Buscar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Buscar in Spanish

Buscar means “to look for” or “to search for.” You will learn its regular -AR endings, the spelling change c → qu before e, and its main sentence patterns.

Buscar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Irregular. Linguistically, buscar uses regular -AR endings, but c changes to qu before e to preserve the /k/ sound, as in busqué and busque. The gerund buscando and participle buscado are regular.

Buscar gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund helps build progressive constructions, and the past participle is used with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. With compound forms built with haber, the participle remains invariant.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	buscar	to look for / to search for
Gerund	buscando	looking for
Past participle	buscado	looked for

Buscar meaning and essential uses

Buscar — “to look for / to search for” — is commonly transitive: the thing being sought normally functions as the direct object, as in Busco mis llaves. — “I am looking for my keys.”

When the direct object is a specific person, the personal a appears: Busco a Marta. — “I am looking for Marta.” The a marks the personal direct object; it is not a special tense marker.

Buscar conjugation pattern

Buscar keeps the stem busc- before endings beginning with a or o. Before e, Spanish spelling changes c to qu to preserve the same /k/ sound: busqué — “I looked for” and busque — “that I look for.” This predictable spelling alternation affects the preterite yo form, the present subjunctive, and subjunctive-based commands.

Buscar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Buscar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use the present indicative for current actions, habits, and general statements. This verb uses the regular -AR present endings. The spelling remains busc- here because these endings do not begin with e.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	busco	I look for
Tú — you, singular informal	buscas	you look for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	busca	he / she looks for; you look for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	buscamos	we look for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	buscáis	you look for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	buscan	they look for; you look for (plural)

• Busco una farmacia cerca. — I am looking for a pharmacy nearby.

Buscar preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use the preterite for completed or bounded past events. The endings are the regular -AR preterite endings, but the yo form changes c → qu before e: busqué — “I looked for.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	busqué	I looked for
Tú — you, singular informal	buscaste	you looked for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	buscó	he / she looked for; you looked for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	buscamos	we looked for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	buscasteis	you looked for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	buscaron	they looked for; you looked for (plural)

• Ayer busqué mis documentos. — Yesterday I looked for my documents.

Buscar imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use the imperfect for past habits, background situations, descriptions, or states viewed as ongoing. This tense is regular for the target verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	buscaba	I used to look for
Tú — you, singular informal	buscabas	you used to look for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	buscaba	he / she used to look for; you used to look for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	buscábamos	we used to look for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	buscabais	you used to look for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	buscaban	they used to look for; you used to look for (plural)

• Antes buscábamos información en libros. — We used to look for information in books.

Buscar present progressive

Present progressive (el presente progresivo) — The present progressive is a verbal periphrasis for an action genuinely in progress. Form it with the present of estar — “to be” — plus buscando — “looking for.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	estoy buscando	I am looking for
Tú — you, singular informal	estás buscando	you are looking for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	está buscando	he / she is looking for; you are looking for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	estamos buscando	we are looking for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	estáis buscando	you are looking for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	están buscando	they are looking for; you are looking for (plural)

• Estoy buscando una solución. — I am looking for a solution.

Buscar near future conjugation

Near future (el futuro próximo) — The near future is a verbal periphrasis for plans, intentions, or expected future situations. Form it with the present of ir — “to go” — plus a + buscar — “to look for / to search for.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	voy a buscar	I am going to look for
Tú — you, singular informal	vas a buscar	you are going to look for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	va a buscar	he / she is going to look for; you are going to look for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vamos a buscar	we are going to look for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vais a buscar	you are going to look for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	van a buscar	they are going to look for; you are going to look for (plural)

• Voy a buscar un hotel para mañana. — I am going to look for a hotel for tomorrow.

Buscar future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use the simple future for future reference and, where context supports it, probability. Add the future endings to the full infinitive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	buscaré	I will look for
Tú — you, singular informal	buscarás	you will look for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	buscará	he / she will look for; you will look for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	buscaremos	we will look for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	buscaréis	you will look for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	buscarán	they will look for; you will look for (plural)

• Buscaré otra opción esta tarde. — I will look for another option this afternoon.

Buscar conditional conjugation

Simple conditional (el condicional simple) — Use the simple conditional for hypothetical results, polite softening, and other conditional meanings. Add the conditional endings to the full infinitive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	buscaría	I would look for
Tú — you, singular informal	buscarías	you would look for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	buscaría	he / she would look for; you would look for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	buscaríamos	we would look for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	buscaríais	you would look for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	buscarían	they would look for; you would look for (plural)

• Buscaría un lugar más tranquilo. — I would look for a quieter place.

Buscar present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use the present perfect for a past event connected to the present; its distribution varies by region. Form it with the present of haber plus the invariant participle buscado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he buscado	I have looked for
Tú — you, singular informal	has buscado	you have looked for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha buscado	he / she has looked for; you have looked for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos buscado	we have looked for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis buscado	you have looked for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han buscado	they have looked for; you have looked for (plural)

• Hemos buscado por toda la casa. — We have looked all over the house.

Buscar past perfect conjugation

Past perfect / pluperfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use the past perfect for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with the imperfect of haber plus the invariant participle buscado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había buscado	I had looked for
Tú — you, singular informal	habías buscado	you had looked for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había buscado	he / she had looked for; you had looked for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos buscado	we had looked for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais buscado	you had looked for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían buscado	they had looked for; you had looked for (plural)

• Ya había buscado allí antes. — I had already looked there before.

Buscar future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro compuesto / antefuturo) — Use the future perfect for something expected to be completed by a future point. Form it with the future of haber plus the invariant participle buscado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré buscado	I will have looked for
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás buscado	you will have looked for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá buscado	he / she will have looked for; you will have looked for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos buscado	we will have looked for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis buscado	you will have looked for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán buscado	they will have looked for; you will have looked for (plural)

• Para mañana habremos buscado en todos los archivos. — By tomorrow we will have searched all the files.

Buscar conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto / antepospretérito) — Use the conditional perfect for a hypothetical completed result or unreal past outcome. Form it with the conditional of haber plus the invariant participle buscado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría buscado	I would have looked for
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías buscado	you would have looked for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría buscado	he / she would have looked for; you would have looked for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos buscado	we would have looked for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais buscado	you would have looked for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían buscado	they would have looked for; you would have looked for (plural)

• Habría buscado otra ruta si hubiera sabido del tráfico. — I would have looked for another route if I had known about the traffic.

Buscar subjunctive conjugations

Buscar present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use the present subjunctive after environments such as wishes, influence, emotion, doubt, evaluation, or necessity. Because all these endings begin with e, buscar changes c → qu throughout: busque, busques, busque, busquemos, busquéis, busquen.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	busque	that I look for
Tú — you, singular informal	busques	that you look for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	busque	that he / she look for; that you look for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	busquemos	that we look for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	busquéis	that you look for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	busquen	that they look for; that you look for (plural)

• Espero que busques una respuesta clara. — I hope you look for a clear answer.

Buscar imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use the imperfect subjunctive in subordinate clauses linked to past, hypothetical, or unreal contexts. The main table uses the accepted -ra series; an accepted -se series also exists in many contexts, for example the -se form shown in the examples below.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	buscara	that I looked for / were to look for
Tú — you, singular informal	buscaras	that you looked for / were to look for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	buscara	that he / she looked for / were to look for; that you looked for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	buscáramos	that we looked for / were to look for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	buscarais	that you looked for / were to look for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	buscaran	that they looked for / were to look for; that you looked for (plural)

• Querían que buscáramos un sitio seguro. — They wanted us to look for a safe place.
• Prefería que buscaseis otra alternativa. — I preferred that you all look for another alternative.

Buscar future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. The future subjunctive survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	buscare	if / when I should look for
Tú — you, singular informal	buscares	if / when you should look for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	buscare	if / when he / she should look for; if / when you should look for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	buscáremos	if / when we should look for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	buscareis	if / when you should look for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	buscaren	if / when they should look for; if / when you should look for (plural)

• Quien buscare información adicional deberá solicitarla por escrito. — Whoever should seek additional information must request it in writing.

Buscar present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use the present perfect subjunctive when a completed event is viewed through a subjunctive environment connected to the present or future. Form it with present-subjunctive haber plus buscado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya buscado	that I have looked for
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas buscado	that you have looked for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya buscado	that he / she has looked for; that you have looked for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos buscado	that we have looked for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis buscado	that you have looked for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan buscado	that they have looked for; that you have looked for (plural)

• Me alegra que hayas buscado ayuda. — I am glad that you have looked for help.

Buscar past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use the past perfect subjunctive for unreal, counterfactual, or earlier completed situations inside a subjunctive environment. The main table uses hubiera + buscado; hubiese + buscado is an accepted alternative in many contexts.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera buscado	that I had looked for
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras buscado	that you had looked for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera buscado	that he / she had looked for; that you had looked for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos buscado	that we had looked for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais buscado	that you had looked for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran buscado	that they had looked for; that you had looked for (plural)

• Ojalá hubiéramos buscado antes. — I wish we had searched earlier.
• Si hubieses buscado mejor, lo habrías encontrado. — If you had searched better, you would have found it.

Buscar future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. The future perfect subjunctive is a reference form found mainly in formal, legal, literary, or historical contexts. Form it with future-subjunctive haber plus buscado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere buscado	if / when I should have looked for
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres buscado	if / when you should have looked for
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere buscado	if / when he / she should have looked for; if / when you should have looked for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos buscado	if / when we should have looked for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis buscado	if / when you should have looked for (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren buscado	if / when they should have looked for; if / when you should have looked for (plural)

• Si el solicitante hubiere buscado otra vía, deberá indicarlo. — If the applicant should have pursued another route, they must state it.

Buscar imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. Spanish uses different morphological sources across persons and polarity; the nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Buscar affirmative commands

Use affirmative commands to tell someone directly to perform the action. The usted, nosotros/nosotras, and ustedes forms use the busqu- spelling before e.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	busca	look for
Usted — you, singular formal	busque	look for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	busquemos	let’s look for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	buscad	look for (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	busquen	look for (plural)

• Busca tus llaves en la mochila. — Look for your keys in the backpack.

Buscar negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms. Buscar therefore uses the qu spelling before e throughout these forms.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no busques	do not look for
Usted — you, singular formal	no busque	do not look for (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no busquemos	let’s not look for
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no busquéis	do not look for (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no busquen	do not look for (plural)

• No busques una respuesta rápida sin revisar los datos. — Do not look for a quick answer without reviewing the data.

Common constructions with Buscar

These patterns show common ways the target verb combines with its complements or develops its core meaning.

• Buscar trabajo. — To look for work.
• Buscar a una persona. — To look for a person.
• Buscar información en internet. — To search for information online.

Example sentences with Buscar

These examples reinforce the target verb across useful forms and contexts already explained in the lesson.

• Busco mis llaves desde esta mañana. — I have been looking for my keys since this morning.
• Ayer busqué un hotel cerca de la estación. — Yesterday I looked for a hotel near the station.
• De niños buscábamos conchas en la playa. — As children, we used to look for shells on the beach.
• Quiero que busques una opción más sencilla. — I want you to look for a simpler option.
• Ya hemos buscado en todos los cajones. — We have already looked in all the drawers.
• Busca la dirección antes de salir. — Look up the address before leaving.

Regional and usage notes for Buscar

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. Where voseo is used, the present and affirmative command can have distinct forms; these examples show the forms without replacing the core paradigm.

• Vos buscás una solución. — You are looking for a solution. (voseo)
• Buscá tus documentos. — Look for your documents. (affirmative vos command)

With buscar, remember that the conjugation is mostly regular but spelling changes c to qu before e; that single orthographic rule explains busqué, busque, and the related subjunctive-based commands.