Buscar Conjugation in Spanish
buscar means “look for” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 39 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for looking for keys, for looking for work, and for looking for a book. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of buscar — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo busco las llaves en la cocina todos los días.” — “I look for for the keys in the kitchen every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: buscar
- English: to look for
- Verb type: Irregular — spelling-changing
- Irregular in: no tense — fully regular
- Gerund: buscando
- Past participle: buscado
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for buscar. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | busco |
| tú | buscas |
| él/ella/Ud. | busca |
| nosotros/as | buscamos |
| vosotros/as | buscáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | buscan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | busqué |
| tú | buscaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | buscó |
| nosotros/as | buscamos |
| vosotros/as | buscasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | buscaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | buscaba |
| tú | buscabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | buscaba |
| nosotros/as | buscábamos |
| vosotros/as | buscabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | buscaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | buscaré |
| tú | buscarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | buscará |
| nosotros/as | buscaremos |
| vosotros/as | buscaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | buscarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | buscaría |
| tú | buscarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | buscaría |
| nosotros/as | buscaríamos |
| vosotros/as | buscaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | buscarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he buscado |
| tú | has buscado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha buscado |
| nosotros/as | hemos buscado |
| vosotros/as | habéis buscado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han buscado |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había buscado |
| tú | habías buscado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había buscado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos buscado |
| vosotros/as | habíais buscado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían buscado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré buscado |
| tú | habrás buscado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá buscado |
| nosotros/as | habremos buscado |
| vosotros/as | habréis buscado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán buscado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría buscado |
| tú | habrías buscado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría buscado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos buscado |
| vosotros/as | habríais buscado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían buscado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | busque |
| tú | busques |
| él/ella/Ud. | busque |
| nosotros/as | busquemos |
| vosotros/as | busquéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | busquen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | buscara |
| tú | buscaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | buscara |
| nosotros/as | buscáramos |
| vosotros/as | buscarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | buscaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | busca |
| él/ella/Ud. | busque |
| nosotros/as | busquemos |
| vosotros/as | buscad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | busquen |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | busques |
| él/ella/Ud. | busque |
| nosotros/as | busquemos |
| vosotros/as | busquéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | busquen |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | buscando |
| Past participle | buscado |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo busco las llaves en la cocina todos los días.” — “I look for for the keys in the kitchen every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú buscaste trabajo en Madrid ayer.” — “You looked for for work in Madrid yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él buscaba un buen libro en la tienda antes.” — “He used to look for for a good book in the shop before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo buscaré las llaves en la cocina mañana.” — “I will look for for the keys in the kitchen tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú buscarías trabajo en Madrid algún día.” — “You would look for for work in Madrid someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha buscado un buen libro en la tienda esta semana.” — “He has looked for for a good book in the shop this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había buscado las llaves en la cocina antes de la fiesta.” — “I had looked for for the keys in the kitchen before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás buscado trabajo en Madrid para mañana.” — “You will have looked for for work in Madrid by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría buscado un buen libro en la tienda ayer.” — “He would have looked for for a good book in the shop yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo busque las llaves en la cocina.” — “It is important that i look for for the keys in the kitchen.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú buscaras trabajo en Madrid.” — “I wish you looked for for work in Madrid.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of buscar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Busca un buen libro en la tienda!” — “Look for for a good book in the shop!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of buscar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No busques las llaves en la cocina.” — “Do not look for for the keys in the kitchen.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with buscar, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo busco las llaves en la cocina todos los días.” — “I look for for the keys in the kitchen every day.”
- “Tú buscaste trabajo en Madrid ayer.” — “You looked for for work in Madrid yesterday.”
- “Él buscaba un buen libro en la tienda antes.” — “He used to look for for a good book in the shop before.”
- “Yo buscaré trabajo en Madrid mañana.” — “I will look for for work in Madrid tomorrow.”
- “Tú buscarías las llaves en la cocina algún día.” — “You would look for for the keys in the kitchen someday.”
- “Él ha buscado un buen libro en la tienda esta semana.” — “He has looked for for a good book in the shop this week.”
- “Yo había buscado las llaves en la cocina antes de la fiesta.” — “I had looked for for the keys in the kitchen before the party.”
- “Tú habrás buscado trabajo en Madrid para mañana.” — “You will have looked for for work in Madrid by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él busque un buen libro en la tienda.” — “It is important that he look for for a good book in the shop.”
- “¡Busca las llaves en la cocina!” — “Look for for the keys in the kitchen!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo buscar las llaves en la cocina.”
✓ Right: “Yo busco las llaves en la cocina.”
The infinitive buscar never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form busco.
2. Confusing buscar with encontrar
✗ Wrong: “Yo encuentro las llaves en la cocina.”
✓ Right: “Yo busco las llaves en la cocina.”
Buscar is to look for; encontrar is to find.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy buscado las llaves en la cocina.”
✓ Right: “Yo he buscado las llaves en la cocina.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle buscado.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “busque”
✓ Right: “busqué”
The accent on busqué is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Forgetting the spelling change in the preterite
✗ Wrong: “Yo buscé las llaves en la cocina.”
✓ Right: “Yo busqué las llaves en la cocina.”
Verbs ending in -car change their spelling before e to keep the same sound, so the preterite yo form is busqué.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo busqué las llaves en la cocina antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo buscaba las llaves en la cocina antes.”
The preterite busqué describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect buscaba.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on buscar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of buscar in the Present indicative?
- A) buscas
- B) busca
- C) buscamos
- D) busco
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of buscar in the Preterite?
- A) buscaste
- B) buscamos
- C) buscó
- D) busqué
What is the nosotros/as form of buscar in the Imperfect?
- A) buscabais
- B) buscábamos
- C) buscaba
- D) buscabas
What is the tú form of buscar in the Future?
- A) buscarás
- B) buscaré
- C) buscará
- D) buscaremos
What is the yo form of buscar in the Conditional?
- A) buscarías
- B) buscaríamos
- C) buscaríais
- D) buscaría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of buscar in the Present subjunctive?
- A) busquemos
- B) busquéis
- C) busque
- D) busques
What is the yo form of buscar in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) buscarais
- B) buscara
- C) buscaras
- D) buscáramos
What is the gerund of buscar?
- A) buscando
- B) esperando
- C) existiendo
- D) entrando
What is the past participle of buscar?
- A) esperado
- B) existido
- C) entrado
- D) buscado
What does buscar mean in English?
- A) to exist
- B) to enter
- C) to look for
- D) to wait
Answer key
- D) busco — the yo form of buscar in the present indicative is busco. The other options (buscas, busca, buscamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) buscó — the él/ella/Ud. form of buscar in the preterite is buscó. The other options (busqué, buscaste, buscamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) buscábamos — the nosotros/as form of buscar in the imperfect is buscábamos. The other options (buscaba, buscabas, buscaba) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) buscarás — the tú form of buscar in the future is buscarás. The other options (buscaré, buscará, buscaremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) buscaría — the yo form of buscar in the conditional is buscaría. The other options (buscarías, buscaría, buscaríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) busque — the él/ella/Ud. form of buscar in the present subjunctive is busque. The other options (busque, busques, busquemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) buscara — the yo form of buscar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is buscara. The other options (buscaras, buscara, buscáramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) buscando — the gerund of buscar is buscando; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) buscado — the past participle of buscar is buscado; perfect tenses use haber + buscado. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to look for — buscar means “to look for” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does buscar mean in English?
buscar means “to look for”. You use it for looking for keys, for looking for work, and for looking for a book. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is buscar regular or irregular?
buscar is irregular — spelling-changing, with no irregular tense — it follows the regular pattern throughout. The gerund is buscando and the past participle is buscado.
What are the gerund and past participle of buscar?
The gerund is buscando — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is buscado — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he buscado (I have looked for).
What is the difference between buscar and encontrar?
Buscar is to look for; encontrar is to find. If you are unsure, check the full table for encontrar and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I look for” in Spanish?
Say “Yo busco las llaves en la cocina.” — “I look for for the keys in the kitchen every day.” The yo form of the present is busco, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- buscar in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- buscar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Esperar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Existir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Entrar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise buscar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise buscar with the interactive tool.