Look or Look for to "Buscar"

Question

Hello, I am practicing the past tense with "did", but in a sentence, the system asked me the translation of the following in spanish:

- Where did you look?

I know 'look' = mirar.

I thought it was "¿Donde miraste/viste?".

Then "¿Donde miraste?" was incorrect.

And the system showed me the correct translation like "¿Donde buscaste?"

I would like to know if look without "for" is "buscar" too.

Agradeceré su ayuda si me explican esto.

For me the correct way is "Where did you look for?"

Saludos.

Look for, search and seek

Agradeceré correcciones en mi Inglés.

Answer 1

Mi pregunta es: ¿Es correcta la pregunta en inglés para la traducción que me dio? - Francot

Sí, es correcta. Lo que pasa es que con esta estructura la palabra buscar llega al final de la phrase donde la preposición no puede seguir el verbo, entonces queda sólo look. El contexto nos indica si look quiere decir buscar o mirar.

Gracias. - 007e54d7, Dec 22, 2013

Answer 2

"I would like to know if look without "for" is "buscar" too"

So you want to know if 'look' always has to be followed by 'for' in order to mean 'search' (buscar).

For example:

Did you look here?

compared to

Did you (look for) (it) here?

I think technically 'look for' will always mean search, however, in common, everyday speech someone might say "did you look here" and really mean "did you look (for it) here", and the fact that they are searching is implied. Maybe it is not 100% grammatically correct, but common. Especially if people are talking fast.

Trying to completely answer your question:

Why did the system reject your answer "¿Donde miraste?", and say it was incorrect if, as Julian correctly states " look (puede) decir buscar o mirar" ??

Here is a way to use "where did you look" that has nothing to do with searching (buscando).

John asks Paul to look at the wall.

Paul looks at the wall.

A little later, John asks Paul, "where did you look"?

Paul replies "I looked at the wall, like you asked".

Here is a way to use "where did you look", that has to do with searching.

Paul says, "oh no, I have lost my keys"!

John says, "have you looked for them"?

Paul replies, "yes, I have".

John asks, "were did you look"?

Paul answers, "I looked everywhere".

If you translate "donde miraste" to English, you could not say, "where you looked", that would be bad English. You would have to add the helping word "did". I don't know any other way to translate "donde miraste" other than "where did you look".

Whew... I think the system is wrong, or incomplete. It should allow both answers. Maybe these systems have programming limitations and can only accept one answer.

Thank you. - 007e54d7, Dec 22, 2013

Answer 3

Here is a basic explanation, there are quite a few other uses and complications, but basically:

To look for or to search for= buscar.

To just be looking at something= mirar

To see= ver

Okay gracias, pero el sistema me pidió que tradujera esta sentencia a Español: Where did you look?... y la respuesta correcta que me dió fué. "¿Dónde buscaste?... Mi pregunta es: ¿Es correcta la pregunta en inglés para la traducción que me dio? - 007e54d7, Dec 22, 2013

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/newuploads/8wyfa.png - 007e54d7, Dec 22, 2013