busca
/BOOS-kah/
he/she/it looks for
Busca (He/She looks for). The woman busca the lost keys under the couch.
busca(Verb)
he/she/it looks for
?Statement: 'Él busca las llaves.' (He looks for the keys.)
,you (formal) look for
?Statement: 'Usted busca un hotel.' (You look for a hotel.)
,look for!
?Command (informal 'tú'): '¡Busca la salida!' (Look for the exit!)
he/she/it searches
?General searching: 'La policía busca al ladrón.' (The police search for the thief.)
,he/she/it fetches
?Getting something: 'Busca a tu hermano.' (Go get your brother.)
📝 In Action
Mi mamá busca una receta en internet.
A1My mom is looking for a recipe on the internet.
Ana, busca tus zapatos, por favor.
A2Ana, look for your shoes, please.
El detective busca pistas para resolver el caso.
B1The detective looks for clues to solve the case.
💡 Grammar Points
Statement or Command?
Busca can mean 'he/she looks for' OR it can be a command: 'Look for!'. The context and punctuation tell you which one it is. 'Juan busca el libro.' (Juan looks for the book.) vs. '¡Juan, busca el libro!' (Juan, look for the book!).
Spelling Change for Sound
The verb buscar changes its spelling in some forms, like busqué (I looked for). The c changes to qu to keep the hard 'k' sound. Without it, busce would sound like 'boo-seh'.
❌ Common Pitfalls
Don't Add 'for'
Mistake: "Busco por mis llaves."
Correction: Busco mis llaves. The verb `buscar` already means 'to look for', so you don't need to add an extra word like 'por' or 'para' the way we add 'for' in English.
⭐ Usage Tips
Going to Get Someone
You can use buscar to mean 'go get' or 'pick up' someone. For example, 'Voy a buscar a los niños a la escuela' means 'I'm going to pick up the kids from school.'
Busca (A search/quest). The traveler embarks on a busca for adventure across the mountains.
busca(Noun)
search
?The act of searching: 'La busca de la verdad es difícil.'
,quest
?A long or difficult search: 'Están en la busca de un tesoro.'
hunt
?Especially for animals or things: 'la busca de setas' (mushroom hunting)
📝 In Action
La policía organizó una busca para encontrar al niño perdido.
B1The police organized a search to find the lost child.
Partieron en busca de oro y fortuna.
B2They set off in search of gold and fortune.
⭐ Usage Tips
`busca` vs. `búsqueda`
As a noun, búsqueda is much more common for 'a search' in general ('hice una búsqueda en Google'). Use busca, especially in the phrase en busca de..., to sound a bit more formal or adventurous, like you're on a quest.
🔄 Conjugations
indicative
present
preterite
imperfect
subjunctive
present
imperfect
✏️ Quick Practice
💡 Quick Quiz: busca
Question 1 of 2
Which sentence correctly says 'He is looking for his wallet'?
📚 More Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between `busca` and `búsqueda`?
Most of the time, `busca` is a verb form ('he/she looks for' or the command 'look for!'). `Búsqueda` is the noun you'll almost always use for 'a search', like 'a Google search' (una búsqueda en Google). While `busca` can also be a noun for 'search', it's less common and often used in the set phrase 'en busca de' (in search of).
Why do I see `busqué` with 'qu' sometimes?
That's a great question about Spanish spelling! It's to keep the sound the same. The letter 'c' in Spanish makes a 'k' sound before 'a', 'o', 'u' (like in busca), but a soft 's' or 'th' sound before 'e' or 'i'. To keep the 'k' sound in the past tense 'yo' form, we change `c` to `qu` before the `e`. So, `busqué` is pronounced 'boos-KAY'. If we wrote 'buscé', it would be pronounced 'boo-SAY'.