buscar

To look for or search — one of the most frequent verbs in Spanish, used for physical searching (buscar las llaves), abstract searching (buscar una solución), and set phrases like buscarse la vida (to fend for oneself). Has a spelling change in the preterite (busqué, not buscé) to preserve the hard /k/ sound before e.

• Estoy buscando mis llaves por todas partes. — I'm looking for my keys everywhere.
• Buscamos una solución que funcione para todos. — We're looking for a solution that works for everyone.
• Tuvo que buscarse la vida desde muy joven. — He had to fend for himself from a very young age.

Learners write busqué as buscé, forgetting the c-to-qu spelling change that all -car verbs need in the yo preterite form to keep the hard /k/ sound before e (busqué, saqué, toqué).

• quote "Pedid, y se os dará; buscad, y hallaréis; llamad, y se os abrirá" — Matthew 7:7, one of the best-known verses of the Sermon on the Mount ('Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find'), widely quoted in Spanish-language Christian preaching and writing using this or very close phrasing.