Why is 見つけません inappropriate here?


Well, actually, I may have some idea why 見つけません is inappropriate; I'm less
clear why 見つかりません is significantly less so.

My question is a follow-on to [this answer from @naruto to a recent
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/77562/39129) (by someone else),
and the brief comment exchange we had there.

Probably best if you just go there for the details, but the summary I'll give
here is that the original question asked about an example sentence
さっきから携帯電話を探しているのですが, with a set of choices for how to finish the sentence:
[見つかりません/見つけません][。/でした。]

In the answer in question, it was asserted that 見つかりません is the most
appropriate answer, as "we don't usually say" the 見つけません-based possibilities
available, and 見つかりませんでした as a follow on to the given sentence, because it
"sounds like the speaker suddenly gave up in the middle of the sentence".

So far, so good.

I then proposed the Japanese textbook (especially if written by an English-
speaking native as opposed to Japanese speaker) might have been aiming for the
actually-less-natural 見つけません, because it preserves the same grammatical
subject (which would be a false reason, as this isn't important in Japanese,
but it also seems like the sort of pseudo-reasoning a non-native test-creator
might come up with). The response back was that 見つけません sounds terribly wrong,
and no native speaker would say this.

My question is: why? As I said, I think I suspect why, and I'm about to make
some guesses as to why, but then I'm more interested at the follow-up
question: why is 見つかりません okay where 見つけません is not (in this context)?

* * *

What I suspect the reason to be why, lies in the fact that _I will not find
it_ is the translation noted for 見つけません (in that answer), while 見つかりません was
given as _It has not been found (so far/yet)_. The note for 見つけません makes sense
for me - it's a present or future tense, and just doesn't fit nicely with
探している, which is a currently-ongoing action. Why would anyone be searching for
something if they're confident "I won't find it".

But then, the 見つかりません has exactly the same tense. Why is it "exempt"? I would
expect that to mean "It will not be found", in the same way that 見つけません means
"I will not find it". Is it just a "special exception", or is there a more
generally applicable rule of grammar underneath this (i.e., are there other
examples that can be given that reflect similar situations)?

For my part, if I were not looking at a multiple-choice answer list, I feel
like I wouldn't have chosen any of those, and would have gone with まだ見つかっていません
(since 見つかる is an intransitive verb, 見つかっていません should not mean "is not being
found", but rather "is not (yet) in the state of having been found", in the
same way that 田中さんは来ています doesn't mean "Mr. Tanaka is coming (on the way)", but
instead means "Mr. Tanaka came (and as a result is here)")

Or, if I want to use 見つける instead, I might say, perhaps more awkwardly (but I
hope still correctly?) 見つけてありません, for an equivalent counterpart to that
見つかっていません.

How do these answers stack up against the approved (from the set of available
choices) 見つかりません answer? Better, worse? And, why is 見つかりません acceptable in
place of 見つかっていません, but 見つけません is not acceptable in place of 見つけてありません?




見つからない has a stative function, which I sort of see as an extension of the
habitual/repetitive meaning of “(どんだけ探しても)見つからない” = “(no matter how how many
times I look for it) it won’t be found”.

That is, the state is of not being able to find something
repeatedly/iteratively, though it’s more of a nuance than explicitly so.

On the other hand 見つかってない is more a matter-of-fact “it has not be found
(yet)”. This form tends to only be used with まだ or in the past tense, because
you are emphasizing the state of it not being found, and in turn suggesting
that it will be or was already found at some point later in time.

見つけてある is unfortunately not generally useful because it has a further
connotation of reading like “find (in preparation for something else)”.

And as for 見つけない, you are correct that this ends up meaning “I will not find
it”, which tends to be an odd declaration to make.




見つからない has a stative function, which I sort of see as an extension of the
habitual/repetitive meaning of “(どんだけ探しても)見つからない” = “(no matter how how many
times I look for it) it won’t be found”.

That is, the state is of not being able to find something
repeatedly/iteratively, though it’s more of a nuance than explicitly so.

On the other hand 見つかってない is more a matter-of-fact “it has not be found
(yet)”. This form tends to only be used with まだ or in the past tense, because
you are emphasizing the state of it not being found, and in turn suggesting
that it will be or was already found at some point later in time.

見つけてある is unfortunately not generally useful because it has a further
connotation of reading like “find (in preparation for something else)”.

And as for 見つけない, you are correct that this ends up meaning “I will not find
it”, which tends to be an odd declaration to make.

