buscar preterite conjugation
Buscar (to look for) in the preterite: busqué, buscaste, buscó, buscamos, buscasteis, buscaron.
Pretérito indefinido Preterite
| yo | |
|---|---|
| tú | |
| él/ella/usted | |
| nosotros | |
| vosotros | |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes |
ending regular · irr breaks the pattern · tap a form to hear it
When to use the preterite
The preterite (pretérito indefinido) is the past tense for completed actions with a clear start or end: “Ayer hice la cena.” For background, habits and ongoing states in the past, Spanish uses the imperfect instead.
How it is formed
Regular endings: -ar → é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron; -er/-ir → í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron. Many common verbs use an irregular stem (hic-, tuv-, estuv-, pud-, quis-, dij-) with unstressed endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
Buscar is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.
Read more: Preterite vs imperfect: when to use each
Buscar in a sentence
- Busco mis llaves.I'm looking for my keys.
- Busqué en toda la casa.I looked all over the house.
No preposition before the object; spelling change c→qu before e (busqué).
FAQ
What is the preterite of buscar?
Buscar in the Spanish preterite: yo busqué, tú buscaste, él/ella/usted buscó, nosotros buscamos, vosotros buscasteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes buscaron.
Is buscar irregular in the preterite?
No. In the preterite buscar takes the regular endings for its verb class, so busqué follows the same pattern as any regular verb.
When do you use the Spanish preterite?
The preterite (pretérito indefinido) is the past tense for completed actions with a clear start or end: “Ayer hice la cena.” For background, habits and ongoing states in the past, Spanish uses the imperfect instead.
How is the preterite formed?
Regular endings: -ar → é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron; -er/-ir → í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron. Many common verbs use an irregular stem (hic-, tuv-, estuv-, pud-, quis-, dij-) with unstressed endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
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