Procurar Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

procurar — to look for — 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 look for something or someone, and it is completely regular: procuro, procuras, procura, procuramos, procurais, procuram. Its pretérito perfeito is procurei, procuraste, procurou, and its participle is procurado. It takes a direct object with no preposition — procuro a Maria. On this page you will find procurar 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 procurar conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the procurar present tense page.

Example sentences with procurar

In the present tense

  • “Eu procuro a Maria todos os dias.” — “I look for Maria”
  • “Tu procuras a Maria todos os dias.” — “You look for Maria”
  • “Ele procura a Maria todos os dias.” — “He looks for Maria”
  • “Nós procuramos a Maria todos os dias.” — “We look for Maria”
  • “Vós procurais a Maria todos os dias.” — “You look for Maria”
  • “Eles procuram a Maria todos os dias.” — “They look for Maria”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu procurei a Maria ontem.” — “I looked for Maria”
  • “Tu procuraste a Maria ontem.” — “You looked for Maria”
  • “Ele procurou a Maria ontem.” — “He looked for Maria”
  • “Nós procurámos a Maria ontem.” — “We looked for Maria”
  • “Vós procurastes a Maria ontem.” — “You looked for Maria”
  • “Eles procuraram a Maria ontem.” — “They looked 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 procurava a Maria antigamente.” — “I used to look for Maria”
  • “Tu procurarás a Maria amanhã.” — “You will look for Maria”
  • “Ele procuraria a Maria um dia.” — “He would look for Maria”
  • “É importante que nós procuremos a Maria.” — “It is important that we look for Maria”
  • “Procura a Maria!” — “Look for Maria!”

How procurar is used

The first thing to know about procurar is its core meaning: to look for. It means to look for something or someone, and it is completely regular: procuro, procuras, procura, procuramos, procurais, procuram. Its pretérito perfeito is procurei, procuraste, procurou, and its participle is procurado. It takes a direct object with no preposition — procuro a Maria. 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 procurar keeps. The present eu form is procuro, 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 procurado, 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 procurar does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need procuro, never procurar. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho procurado, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle procurado is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Procurar in context

Eu procuro a Maria todos os dias. Tu procuras a Maria todos os dias. Ele procura a Maria todos os dias. Nós procuramos a Maria todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of procurar is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — procuro, procuras, procura, procuramos — while the meaning stays the same: to look for. Eu procurei a Maria ontem. Tu procuraste a Maria ontem. Ele procurou a Maria ontem. Nós procurámos a Maria ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of procurar 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 look for — 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 procurar a Maria.”

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

The infinitive procurar never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form procuro.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu procuras a Maria.”

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

procuras is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is procuro — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu procuro a Maria ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu procurei a Maria ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito procurei here, not the present procuro.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou procurado a Maria.”

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

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) procuro
    • B) procuras
    • C) procura
    • D) procuramos

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

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

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

    • A) procuravas
    • B) procurávamos
    • C) procuráveis
    • D) procurava

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

    • A) procuraremos
    • B) procurarei
    • C) procurarás
    • D) procurará

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

    • A) procuraria
    • B) procurarias
    • C) procuraríamos
    • D) procuraríeis

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

    • A) procuraras
    • B) procuráramos
    • C) procurara
    • D) procuráreis

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

    • A) procure
    • B) procures
    • C) procureis
    • D) procuremos

  8. What is the gerund of procurar?

    • A) procurando
    • B) procurado
    • C) procurar
    • D) procuro

  9. What is the past participle of procurar?

    • A) procurando
    • B) procurado
    • C) procurar
    • D) procuro

  10. What does procurar mean in English?

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

Answer key

  1. B) procuras — the correct form is procuras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho procurado — the correct form is tenho procurado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) procurava — the correct form is procurava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) procuraremos — the correct form is procuraremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) procurarias — the correct form is procurarias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) procurara — the correct form is procurara. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) procuremos — the correct form is procuremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) procurando — the correct form is procurando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) procurado — the correct form is procurado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to look for — the correct form is to look for. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does procurar mean in English?

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

Is procurar regular or irregular?

procurar is regular. procurar 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 procurar?

The gerund is procurando and the past participle is procurado. The perfect tenses use ter + procurado.

Where can I see the full conjugation of procurar?

On the procurar conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The procurar 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 procurar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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