見当たる vs 見付ける

Japanese Language Kanji
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I know I can’t be the only one who keeps getting these confused.
Is there a trick that anyone has to remember these?

Definitions according to WK:

見当たる → to be found

It’s made up of the kanji for see and right, so what happens when you see the right thing? You manage to come upon what you’re looking for or to be found, if you’re the one who’s lost and you see the right people that are looking for you.
Note: This verb is almost always used in the negative form. It is very, very rare for it to be positive. So when you’re using it, make sure no one found the thing you’re talking about!

見付ける → to find

You know that 付ける means “to attach” and that 見 means “see.” So, when you attach your seeing to something, it’s like you’re looking around trying to find something. When you find what you’re looking for, imagine your eyeballs flying out and attaching to that item, then yelling “I FOUND IT!”

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One way to differentiate between these two is to realize

当たる is intransitive (to be hit/successful)
付ける is transitive (to attach something)

So the two definitions of “finding something” and “to be found” follow from this.

The “pattern” is that the verb that ends with an “ある” tends to be intransitive.

Was this helpful or did it just complicate things?

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There’s also 見付かる which is intransitive

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I feel like I see this way more often than 見当たる

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@spaceboy6 @eglepe

I still confuse my transitive / intransitives but it’s easier for me to understand why and how they’re different since they stem from the same base ( 見付 + ける/かる)

could it be argued that these are essentially the same then?
見当たる
見付かる

I guess I’m just getting a bit frustrated and confused since I’m always mixing these up in reviews.

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The meaning is the same but there might be differences in nuance. 見当たる for example I almost exclusively see in the negative form iirc

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If you need something more like a mnemonic, I think this is how I did it. It’s pretty ridiculous.

Imagine a game of hide and seek.

You’re the one hiding. When you are found (見当たる) you say “ME was found, Awww shucks”. み。。。あ …. get it??

It’s dumb, but that’s how my brain works :joy:

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見当たる

Goo says さがしていたものが見付かる。「どこをさがしても―・らない」
「奉公口ふたつ―・りぬ」

That is, to come across what you were searching for.

見付ける

The one I think of, to notice; to come across.

Otherwise there is also transitive-intransive part.

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