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I am having some trouble understanding a sentence and the grammar behind it :

何か見つかるといいなと思います

How does the use of といいです and と思う together work ? I understand it as "i think that i would like" which makes no sense to me.

Also, a bit less confusing but I am also not sure why it is ”見つかる” and not ”見つける” in this case

Thank you for your help !

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"Xといいな" is a more personal/subjective-sounding version of "Xといいです"; so instead of interpreting it as "it would be good/fine if X", it makes sense to interpret it as "it would be nice if X".

"Yと思う", as you know, means "I think that Y" or "I feel that Y".

Putting these two together you end up with: "I think it would be nice if we find something (literally: ...if something is found)." See this question for the difference(s) between 見つける and 見つかる.

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  • Thank you ! That helps a lot. So you would not say that it is a frequent formulation ? I was wondering if it was a common way of saying "I hope to be able to find something"
    – Wignam
    Apr 13, 2021 at 12:18
  • Sure, it looks like a fairly normal formulation to me. That said, in most contexts a more straightforward "何か見つかるといいなぁ～" or "何か見つかるといいですね" would be the most common/natural to express the same sentiment, given that the intended meaning is obvious enough without adding the と思う/と思います bit at the end. Then again, the same is true in English: most people are much more likely to keep it short with something like "Hopefully I'll find something" than a "I hope to be able to find something".
    – Will
    Apr 13, 2021 at 12:36

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