Buscar Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

buscar — to search — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a regular -ar verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to search for and to fetch a person or a thing, and it is regular apart from its spelling: the -car stem keeps its hard c by writing qu before e and i, so the pretérito perfeito eu form is busquei. The present is busco, buscas, busca, and the participle is buscado. Do not confuse it with procurar, which also means to look for something. On this page you will find buscar in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the buscar conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the buscar present tense page.

Example sentences with buscar

In the present tense

  • “Eu busco a Maria todos os dias.” — “I search for for Maria”
  • “Tu buscas a Maria todos os dias.” — “You search for for Maria”
  • “Ele busca a Maria todos os dias.” — “He searches for for Maria”
  • “Nós buscamos a Maria todos os dias.” — “We search for for Maria”
  • “Vós buscais a Maria todos os dias.” — “You search for for Maria”
  • “Eles buscam a Maria todos os dias.” — “They search for for Maria”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu busquei a Maria ontem.” — “I searched for for Maria”
  • “Tu buscaste a Maria ontem.” — “You searched for for Maria”
  • “Ele buscou a Maria ontem.” — “He searched for for Maria”
  • “Nós buscámos a Maria ontem.” — “We searched for for Maria”
  • “Vós buscastes a Maria ontem.” — “You searched for for Maria”
  • “Eles buscaram a Maria ontem.” — “They searched for for Maria”

In other tenses

The same verb in the pretérito imperfeito, the futuro do presente, the futuro do pretérito, the presente do subjuntivo and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Eu buscava a Maria antigamente.” — “I used to search for for Maria”
  • “Tu buscarás a Maria amanhã.” — “You will search for for Maria”
  • “Ele buscaria a Maria um dia.” — “He would search for for Maria”
  • “É importante que nós busquemos a Maria.” — “It is important that we search for for Maria”
  • “Busca a Maria!” — “Search for for Maria!”

How buscar is used

The first thing to know about buscar is its core meaning: to search. It means to search for and to fetch a person or a thing, and it is regular apart from its spelling: the -car stem keeps its hard c by writing qu before e and i, so the pretérito perfeito eu form is busquei. The present is busco, buscas, busca, and the participle is buscado. Do not confuse it with procurar, which also means to look for something. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the pretérito perfeito, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company buscar keeps. The present eu form is busco, and it pairs naturally with the time words todos os dias and sempre for habits, and with agora for what is happening right now. The pretérito perfeito composto eu form is tenho buscado, and it pairs with ontem and esta semana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what buscar does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need busco, never buscar. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho buscado, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle buscado is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Buscar in context

Eu busco a Maria todos os dias. Tu buscas a Maria todos os dias. Ele busca a Maria todos os dias. Nós buscamos a Maria todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of buscar is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — busco, buscas, busca, buscamos — while the meaning stays the same: to search. Eu busquei a Maria ontem. Tu buscaste a Maria ontem. Ele buscou a Maria ontem. Nós buscámos a Maria ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of buscar appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to search — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Eu buscar a Maria.”

✓ Right: “Eu busco a Maria todos os dias.”

The infinitive buscar never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form busco.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu buscas a Maria.”

✓ Right: “Eu busco a Maria todos os dias.”

buscas is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is busco — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu busco a Maria ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu busquei a Maria ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito busquei here, not the present busco.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou buscado a Maria.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho buscado a Maria esta semana.”

buscar takes ter in the pretérito perfeito composto. The eu form is tenho buscado — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on buscar across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

  1. What is the tu form of buscar in the Present indicative (presente)?

    • A) busco
    • B) buscas
    • C) busca
    • D) buscamos

  2. What is the eu form of buscar in the Pretérito perfeito composto?

    • A) tens buscado
    • B) tem buscado
    • C) tenho buscado
    • D) temos buscado

  3. What is the ele/ela form of buscar in the Pretérito imperfeito?

    • A) buscavas
    • B) buscávamos
    • C) buscáveis
    • D) buscava

  4. What is the nós form of buscar in the Futuro do presente?

    • A) buscaremos
    • B) buscarei
    • C) buscarás
    • D) buscará

  5. What is the tu form of buscar in the Futuro do pretérito?

    • A) buscaria
    • B) buscarias
    • C) buscaríamos
    • D) buscaríeis

  6. What is the eu form of buscar in the Pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples?

    • A) buscaras
    • B) buscáramos
    • C) buscara
    • D) buscáreis

  7. What is the nós form of buscar in the Presente do subjuntivo?

    • A) busque
    • B) busques
    • C) busqueis
    • D) busquemos

  8. What is the gerund of buscar?

    • A) buscando
    • B) buscado
    • C) buscar
    • D) busco

  9. What is the past participle of buscar?

    • A) buscando
    • B) buscado
    • C) buscar
    • D) busco

  10. What does buscar mean in English?

  • A) to ask for
  • B) to receive
  • C) to search
  • D) to pay

Answer key

  1. B) buscas — the correct form is buscas. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho buscado — the correct form is tenho buscado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) buscava — the correct form is buscava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) buscaremos — the correct form is buscaremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) buscarias — the correct form is buscarias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) buscara — the correct form is buscara. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) busquemos — the correct form is busquemos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) buscando — the correct form is buscando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) buscado — the correct form is buscado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to search — the correct form is to search. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does buscar mean in English?

buscar means “to search”. You use it whenever you talk about to search in Portuguese, in the present, the past and the future.

Is buscar regular or irregular?

buscar is regular. buscar is regular: every form follows the standard -ar endings, so once you know the pattern you can build every tense from the stem.

What are the gerund and past participle of buscar?

The gerund is buscando and the past participle is buscado. The perfect tenses use ter + buscado.

Where can I see the full conjugation of buscar?

On the buscar conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The buscar present tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for buscar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

Related pages