Buscar Conjugation 101: Conjugate Buscar in Spanish

Like other verbs ending with –car, there are certain consonant changes you must follow when conjugating buscar. To help you get familiar with these changes, in this guide, you’ll find charts with the most frequently used buscar conjugations. 

Here’s a summary of what you’ll find:

Take Note: There are many tenses in Spanish. However, we don’t use them all. Many are simply old and outdated. As a result, in this guide, you’ll only learn the tenses you need to know to become fluent in Spanish. 

Overview of Buscar

Verb CharacteristicProperty
Verb Type-AR
IrregularNo
InfinitiveBuscar
Gerund (Present Participle) FormBuscando
Past Participle FormBuscado
SynonymsAveriguar, indagar, investigar, recoger

Stem Changes:

  • Preterite: busqu only for ‘yo’.
  • Present subjuctive: busqu for all subject pronouns.
  • Affirmative imperative: busqu only for ‘usted/ustedes’.
  • Negative imperative: busqu for all subject pronouns.

Indicative Conjugations of Buscar

Present tense

The present tense conjugations of buscar are regular. With this tense, ‘buscar’ refers to things people are currently looking for. For example: ¿qué buscas?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBuscoI search
BuscasYou search
Él / Ella
Usted
BuscaHe/She searches
You (formal) search
NosotrosBuscamosWe search
VosotrosBuscáisYou search
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BuscanThey search
You (plural) search

Preterite tense

In the preterite tense, buscar has a stem change when conjugating to the first person form, yo. As shown in the conjugation chart below, this pronoun uses the stem ‘busq-’. The preterite conjugations of ‘buscar’ refer to things someone searched at a specific moment in the past. Busqué en todos lados.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBusquéI searched
BuscasteYou searched
Él / Ella
Usted
BuscóHe/She searched
You (formal) searched
NosotrosBuscamosWe searched
VosotrosBuscasteisYou searched
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BuscaronThey searched
You (plural) searched

Imperfect tense

 The imperfect conjugations of ‘buscar’ allow you to talk about things people used to search repeatedly in the past. In conversational Spanish, the imperfect forms of buscar are a polite way to let clerks know what you’re looking for. Hola, buscaba un control universal.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBuscabaI searched
I used to search
BuscabasYou searched
You used to search
Él / Ella
Usted
BuscabaHe/She searched
He/She used to search

You (formal) searched
You (formal) used to search
NosotrosBuscábamosWe searched
We used to search
VosotrosBuscabaisYou searched
You used to search
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BuscabanThey searched
They used to search

You (plural) searched
You (plural) used to search

Near future

 For the verb ‘buscar’, the Spanish immediate future is used to talk about the things you’ll search or look for soon in the future. En la tarde, vamos a ir a buscar los regalos. The near future of ‘buscar’ is formed with ir (present) + a + buscar and can be translated as “going to search/look/find”.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoVoy a buscarI’m going to search
Vas a buscarYou’re going to search
Él / Ella
Usted
Va a buscarHe/She is going to search
You (formal) are going to search
NosotrosVamos a buscarWe’re going to search
VosotrosVais a buscarYou’re going to search
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Van a buscarThey’re going to search
You (plural) are going to search

Future simple tense

Buscar’s future conjugations are regular. We use the future tense of ‘buscar’ to talk about things or people we plan to search or look for at some point in the future. For instance: en unos meses buscaremos otro departamento.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBuscaréI will search
BuscarásYou will search
Él / Ella
Usted
BuscaráHe/She will search
You (formal) will search
NosotrosBuscaremosWe will search
VosotrosBuscaréisYou (formal) will search
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BuscaránThey will search
You (plural) will search

Conditional tense

 Buscar in the conditional tense is used to talk about the things you would search or look for if a certain circumstance was met. Si fuera tú, yo buscaría mi cartera hasta encontrarla.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBuscaríaI would search
BuscaríasYou would search
Él / Ella
Usted
BuscaríaHe/She would search
You (formal) would search
NosotrosBuscaríamosWe would search
VosotrosBuscaríaisYou would search
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BuscaríanThey would search
You (plural) would search

Present perfect tense

The formula to conjugate the present perfect of ‘buscar’ is haber + buscado. In the present tense, ‘buscar’ is used to talk about things you have or haven’t looked for. ¿Dónde estabas? Te he buscado por todos lados.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHe buscadoI have searched
Has buscadoYou have searched
Él / Ella
Usted
Ha buscadoHe/She has searched
You (formal) have searched
NosotrosHemos buscadoWe have searched
VosotrosHabéis buscadoYou have searched
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Han buscadoThey have searched
You (plural) have searched

Past perfect

Buscar conjugated to the past perfect tense communicates that someone searched or looked for something before some other reference point in the past. Te dije que ya había buscado aquí. The formula for the past perfect is haber (imperfect form) + buscado (past participle).

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabía buscadoI had searched
Habías buscadoYou had searched
Él / Ella
Usted
Había buscadoHe/She had searched
You (formal) had searched
NosotrosHabíamos buscadoWe had searched
VosotrosHabíais buscadoYou had searched
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habían buscadoThey had searched
You (plural) had searched

Future perfect

To form the future perfect of ‘buscar’, you must conjugate haber to the future tense and add buscado (the past participle of ‘buscar’). With this tense, ‘buscar’ is used to talk about the things for which someone will have searched by or before a certain time in the future. For instance: ¿crees que para el lunes ya habrás buscado mi libro?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabré buscadoI will have searched
Habrás buscadoYou will have searched
Él / Ella
Usted
Habrá buscadoHe/She will have searched
You (formal) will have searched
NosotrosHabremos buscadoWe will have searched
VosotrosHabréis buscadoYou will have searched
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrán buscadoThey will have searched
You (plural) will have searched

Conditional perfect

‘Buscar’ to the conditional tense refers to things you would have searched or looked for if a past circumstance had been met. For example: si hubiera tenido más tiempo, habría buscado mejor.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHabría buscadoI would have searched
Habrías buscadoYou would have searched
Él / Ella
Usted
Habría buscadoHe/She would have searched
You (formal) would have searched
NosotrosHabríamos buscadoWe would have searched
VosotrosHabríais buscadoYou would have searched
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Habrían buscadoThey would have searched
You (plural) would have searched

Progressive tenses

The progressive tenses’ forms of ‘buscar’ are used to express that a person is searching or looking for something at the moment of speaking. For instance: cuando llegaste, estaba buscando mis llaves. The present progressive tenses of ‘buscar’ are formed with the structure estar + buscando.

Progressive TenseFormulaTranslation Example
PresentEstar (present) + buscandoI am searching
PreteriteEstar (preterite) + buscandoYou were searching
ImperfectEstar (imperfect) + buscandoHe was searching
FutureEstar (future) + buscandoWe will be searching
ConditionalEstar (conditional) + buscandoThey would be searching

Buscar Subjunctive Conjugations

In Spanish, the subjunctive mood is used to talk about wishes, hypothetical situations or express uncertainty. The conjugation charts below show the subjunctive forms of buscar.

Present subjunctive

All buscar subjunctive conjugations are irregular. To conjugate buscar to the subjunctive tense, you must use the stem ‘busqu-’. With this tense, ‘buscar’ is used to tell people what you want them to search for. For example: quiero que busques mis llaves.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBusqueI search
BusquesYou search
Él / Ella
Usted
BusqueHe/She searches
You (formal) search
NosotrosBusquemosWe search
VosotrosBusquéisYou search
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BusquenThey search
You (plural) search

Present perfect subjunctive

The present perfect subjunctive of ‘buscar’ is used to communicate hypotheses or express uncertainty about what people have searched. Haber in the present subjunctive + buscado is the structure you should use to build this tense. ¿Crees que Clive haya buscado tu celular?

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHaya buscadoI have searched
Hayas buscadoYou have searched
Él / Ella
Usted
Haya buscadoHe/She has searched
You (formal) have searched
NosotrosHayamos buscadoWe have searched
VosotrosHayáis buscadoYou have searched
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hayan buscadoThey have searched
You (plural) have searched

Imperfect subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive forms of ‘buscar’ can be used to talk about past requests to search something. For example, Cathy me pidió que buscara otro vuelo. 

The imperfect subjunctive has two conjugation models depending on which type of Spanish you’re speaking:

Latin American Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBuscaraI searched
BuscarasYou searched
Él / Ella
Usted
BuscaraHe/She searched
You (formal) searched
NosotrosBuscáramosWe searched
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BuscaranThey searched
You (plural) searched

Note: The table above doesn’t include the conjugation for vosotros because this pronoun is not used in Latin American Spanish.

Castilian Spanish version

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoBuscaseI searched
BuscasesYou searched
Él / Ella
Usted
BuscaseHe/She searched
You (formal) searched
NosotrosBuscásemosWe searched
VosotrosBuscaseis You searched
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
BuscasenThey You searched
You (plural) You searched

Past perfect subjunctive

In the past perfect subjunctive, buscar is used to talk about things you might have searched for if a past circumstance was met. This tense can also express regrets for things you wished you had searched for. For instance: me hubieras dicho y hubiéramos buscado tu cartera antes de irnos.

PersonConjugationTranslation
YoHubiera buscadoI had searched
Hubieras buscadoYou had searched
Él / Ella
Usted
Hubiera buscadoHe/She had searched
You (formal) had searched
NosotrosHubiéramos buscadoWe had searched
VosotrosHubierais buscadoYou had searched
Ellos / Ellas
Ustedes
Hubieran buscadoThey had searched
You (plural) had searched

Buscar Imperative Conjugations

Spanish commands allow you to tell people what to do (affirmative commands) or what not to do (negative commands).

Affirmative commands

To conjugate the affirmative imperative of ‘buscar’ you must use the stem ‘busqu-’ for ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’. With these conjugations, you can order people to search or look for something. For example: Emma, Luis, busque las llaves, por favor.

PersonConjugationTranslation
BuscaSearch
UstedBusqueSearch
VosotrosBuscadSearch
UstedesBusquenSearch

Negative commands

All the negative commands of ‘buscar’ use the stem ‘busqu-’. We use the negative imperative to order someone to not look or search for something. Por favor, no busques en mi bolsa.

PersonConjugationTranslation
No busquesDon’t search
UstedNo busqueDon’t search
VosotrosNo busquéis Don’t search
UstedesNo busquenDon’t search

Meanings of Buscar & Examples

Now that you’ve checked the conjugation charts for buscar, you should learn how to use this verb correctly. 

  1. Talking about searching or looking for people or things

Buenas tardes, estoy buscando a Donna. 
Good afternoon, I’m looking for Donna. 

Todavía no hemos buscado aquí. 
We still haven’t searched here. 

Michelle quiere que busquemos el libro que nos prestó. 
Michelle wants us to look for the book we borrowed from her. 

Take Note: The prepositions a and en are frequently used with the verb ‘buscar’. A is used with people and en to imply that you’re searching for something in a room or enclosed space.

  1. Expressing you’re picking up someone 

[Buscar conjugated] + a + [person]

Ahorita venimos, vamos a buscar a Lety. 
We’ll be right back, we’re picking Letty up. 

¿A qué hora van a buscar a los niños?
What time are you guys going to pick up the kids?

Download Buscar Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets

I’ve created a PDF for you to download containing all of the conjugation tables, verb characteristics, and uses so you can study it at your own pace!

Practice Quiz: Buscar Conjugation

Take our buscar conjugations practice quiz to put your conjugation skills to the test and improve your use of this essential verb.

Daniela Sanchez

¡Hola! Soy Daniela Sanchez, I've been studying Spanish professionally as well as teaching it in Mexico and online for over 10 years. I’ve taught Spanish to a wide array of foreigners from many backgrounds. Over the years, I've made it my mission to work hard on refining many challenging to understand grammar topics to make my students' learning experiences easier, faster and more enjoyable. Read More About Me

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