見つかります（みつかります、mitsukarimasu）
- to be found

The Japanese word 見つかります, read みつかります (mitsukarimasu), generally means "to be found," "to be discovered," or "to be located." It implies that something that was lost, hidden, or missing has been found, or that a fact or information has been revealed. It is used in situations where the subject (the thing that is found) is not the one performing the action of finding; rather, it is passively being found. This is different from the active verb "to find," which is usually expressed in Japanese by 見つけます (mitsukemasu). 見つかります is the polite, present/future tense form of the verb.

⚫︎鍵が見つかりました。 Translation: The key was found. ⚫︎新しいレストランが見つかりました。 Translation: A new restaurant was found. ⚫︎問題の解決策が見つかります。 Translation: A solution to the problem will be found.

⚫︎ Use 見つかります when you want to say something is found without specifying who or what did the finding. The subject of the sentence (what is found) is usually marked with the particle が (ga). ⚫︎ This verb is commonly used in daily conversation, and can be used in different tenses (past, present, future) by changing the conjugation of the verb. 見つかります is the present/future tense. The past tense form is 見つかりました (mitsukarimashita). ⚫︎ Consider the context: Is the subject actively doing the finding, or is it passively being found? If the subject is actively finding something, use a different verb like 見つけます (mitsukemasu).

⚫︎ The base form of the verb is 見つかる (mitsukaru). ⚫︎ The polite form, 見つかります (mitsukarimasu), is the most common way to use this verb in general conversation. ⚫︎ Kanji: 見つかります ⚫︎ Hiragana: みつかります ⚫︎ The okurigana (hiragana attached to the kanji) is つかります.

⚫︎ 発見されます (hakken saremasu) - to be discovered/found (more formal). ⚫︎ 見出す (midasu) - to find (a more literary usage). ⚫︎ 探し当てる (sagashidateru) - to find after a search.

⚫︎ There isn't one direct antonym. However, the opposite of "to be found" would imply something is not found, lost, or missing. ⚫︎ Could consider phrases that indicate loss, e.g. なくします (nakushimasu) – to lose.

財布が見つかりません。 ・Translation: My wallet cannot be found. ・Explanation: This sentence implies that the wallet is missing. This uses the negative form, 見つかりません, which means "cannot be found" or "is not found."

あなたの家への道が見つかりましたか？ ・Translation: Did you find the way to your house? ・Explanation: This is a polite question, using the past tense 見つかりましたか, asking if a way or a path was found.

The word 見つかります is a combination of two elements: ⚫︎ 見 (mi) - from the verb 見る (miru), meaning "to see" or "to look." ⚫︎ つく (tsuku) - which is an auxiliary verb that roughly means to "attach," "connect," or in this context, "to arrive" or "to get to be." In 見つかります, this combination implies that something has been "seen" and is "arrived at" or "found" as a result.