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I know it's a simple question but I want to be sure if the answer so I don't get confused. I know to search is 探す but what about "I found (something)"? Because 探した doesn't seem correct and seems like it would mean "I searched".

メガネを見つかった?Or メガネを見つかっていた?

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    First option with か→け. Mar 24, 2016 at 11:00

3 Answers 3

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The former option is close, but you should use transitive 見つける instead of 見つかる.

メガネを見つけた - (I) found my glasses

The reason you should use 見つける instead of 見つかる is because the former is transitive (takes a direct object, with を) and the latter is intransitive (is done on its own). In other words, 見つける is the process of someone finding something, whereas 見つかる is something being found.

So using 見つかる is not wrong, but you'll have to change up the sentence a bit, since using を with it is ungrammatical.

メガネは見つかった - My glasses are found

見つかる emphasizes that it was found, maybe by accident; 見つける emphasizes that someone found it, probably by looking for it.

Whenever you finally find something you've been looking for, you exclaim 「見つかった!」 ("Found it!") rather than 「見つけた!」.

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    I think you could exclaim 「あった!」
    – user1478
    Mar 24, 2016 at 16:16
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    "I think you could exclaim 「あった!」" --> Totally agreed, we'd definitely say 「あった!」. You might exclaim 見つかった! when you are found by someone, like when you're playing hide and seek, hiding from someone/stalker/zombie etc, and 見つけた! when you have found someone when playing hide and seek or you're the stalker, like "Oh there you are! I found you!"
    – chocolate
    Mar 26, 2016 at 3:27
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I would say "メガネは、みつかりました。". ..

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    It's good to know what you would say. However to make it an answer on SE you should add a little background information or references.
    – macraf
    Mar 24, 2016 at 11:40
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I found my glasses(Feminine and adults) - 私のメガネを見つけた。

I found my glasses(Boy) - 僕はメガネを見つけた。

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    Why do females and adults use の while boys use は?
    – chocolate
    Mar 27, 2016 at 5:17

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