buscar vs procurar
Spanish word comparison
Listen to buscar
Listen to procurar
| buscar | procurar |
|---|---|
/bus-CAR/ verb | /proh-koo-RAHR/ verb |
| to look for; to seek; to try to find something or someone | to try to obtain or to attempt (often ‘to try to’ rather than physically searching) |
How they differ
Procurar emphasizes effort or attempt (often followed by an infinitive: procurar + inf.) and can mean 'try to' in a broader sense, whereas buscar usually means physically looking for or seeking something more literally.
When to use each
When to use buscar: Prefer buscar when you mean to physically look for a person or object or to seek something in a concrete way.
When to use procurar: Prefer procurar when you want to stress that someone is trying or making an effort to obtain or achieve something (e.g., 'procuro hacerlo').
Side-by-side examples
- Busco mi pasaporte por toda la casa.
(I'm looking for my passport all over the house.) - Procuro llegar a tiempo todos los días.
(I try to arrive on time every day.)
Register & nuance: Slightly more formal than buscar and very common in neutral Spanish to express 'try to'; used across Spain and Latin America.