Serĉi means to look or search for someone or something. The sought target is a direct object: serĉi la ŝlosilojn, not an English-style serĉi por la ŝlosiloj. Crucially, serĉi names the attempt, while trovi names a successful result; a search can end without a find.
The complete paradigm
The stem serĉ- takes all six verb endings regularly. The circumflex in ĉ remains in every form, and finite verbs do not agree with the subject.
| Form | Core value | Typical translation |
|---|---|---|
| serĉi | infinitive | to look for, to search for |
| serĉas | present | look for, search for |
| serĉis | past | looked for, searched for |
| serĉos | future | will look for |
| serĉus | conditional | would look for |
| serĉu | volitive | look for!, let … search |
Mi serĉas miajn aŭdilojn; ĉu vi vidis ilin?
I’m looking for my headphones; have you seen them?
Kion vi serĉas? — Trankvilan lokon por telefoni.
What are you looking for? — A quiet place to make a call.
Serĉis reports a past search without saying whether it succeeded. Serĉus is conditional. Serĉu is common in directions, advice, and interface instructions.
Mi serĉus alian loĝejon, se la luo denove altiĝus.
I would look for another place to live if the rent went up again.
Serĉu la dokumenton laŭ ĝia titolo, ne laŭ la dosiernomo.
Search for the document by its title, not by the filename.
The sought target is a direct object
People, objects, information, jobs, solutions, and opportunities can all be direct objects of serĉi. Add accusative -n to the entire noun phrase.
La firmao serĉas spertan retprogramiston por sia nova teamo.
The company is looking for an experienced web developer for its new team.
Ni serĉis pli simplan solvon, sed trovis neniun.
We looked for a simpler solution but found none.
The por phrase in the first example expresses the purpose or intended destination of the employee; it does not mark the person being sought. The object remains spertan retprogramiston.
Esperanto serĉi can also mean search in an abstract or digital sense. The query or wanted information is the object, while the place searched follows an appropriate preposition.
Ŝi serĉis la adreson en la reta adresaro.
She looked for the address in the online directory.
Mi serĉis respondon inter la malnovaj mesaĝoj.
I searched for an answer among the old messages.
This object-plus-location structure follows the wider principles under verb–preposition frames: en identifies a search domain, inter a set, tra a route or extent, and per a tool or method.
Serĉi versus trovi
Serĉi is a process directed toward a target. Trovi is the achievement of locating or discovering it. Neither verb logically guarantees the other: you can find something accidentally without searching, and search without finding.
| Situation | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| attempt in progress | serĉi | Mi serĉas la ŝlosilon. |
| successful result | trovi | Mi trovis la ŝlosilon. |
| recovery of something lost | retrovi | Mi retrovis la ŝlosilon. |
Mi serĉis la fakturon dum dudek minutoj kaj fine trovis ĝin en la rubujo.
I looked for the invoice for twenty minutes and finally found it in the trash.
Ŝi trovis bonegan kafejon tute hazarde; ŝi ne serĉis ĝin.
She found a great café completely by chance; she wasn’t looking for it.
English “find” can also mean judge or experience—“I find this difficult.” Esperanto commonly uses trovi with an object complement in that sense, but serĉi never has that evaluative meaning. The dedicated trovi page covers that verb’s broader range.
Locations, sources, and methods
The location of a search is not automatically its object. Compare:
- serĉi dosieron en la komputilo: look for a file on the computer;
- traserĉi la komputilon: search through the computer thoroughly;
- serĉi per ŝlosilvorto: search by means of a keyword.
La kuracistoj serĉis kongruan donacanton en la internacia registro.
The doctors searched for a compatible donor in the international registry.
La gardisto traserĉis la sakon sed trovis nenion suspektindan.
The guard searched through the bag but found nothing suspicious.
Plain serĉi la sakon would naturally mean look for the bag. The compound traserĉi la sakon makes the bag the area examined throughout. The prefix changes the semantic role of the object, not merely the intensity.
For assistance, use a separate complement: serĉi ion kun iu means search together with someone, while serĉi ion por iu means search on someone’s behalf.
Mi serĉos la informon por vi post la kunveno.
I’ll look up the information for you after the meeting.
Participles and productive derivatives
As a transitive verb, serĉi has active serĉanta, serĉinta, serĉonta and passive serĉata, serĉita, serĉota. Serĉata often means sought, wanted, or in demand; serĉita presents the search as completed and often appears retrospectively in phrases such as longe serĉita. Deliberate selection after a search is expressed more specifically by elserĉita.
La polico publikigis foton de la serĉata persono.
The police published a photo of the wanted person.
Post multaj provoj ni trovis la longe serĉitan kaŭzon de la eraro.
After many attempts we found the long-sought cause of the error.
Useful family members include serĉado “searching as a process,” serĉanto “searcher/seeker,” serĉilo “search tool or search engine,” serĉrezulto “search result,” traserĉi “search through,” and elserĉi “seek out/select by searching.”
La interna serĉilo ne montras rezultojn por fleksiaj formoj.
The internal search tool does not show results for inflected forms.
La redaktoro elserĉis tri fotojn por la kovrilo.
The editor selected three photos for the cover after searching.
Frequency and register
Serĉi is neutral and very frequent in physical, professional, and digital contexts. Traserĉi is standard when an area or container is examined throughout. Elserĉi is somewhat more common in careful written or (formal) selection contexts but is not archaic. Participles such as serĉata are common in job advertisements, news, and notices as well as ordinary conversation.
Common Mistakes
Adding for before the target
❌ Mi serĉas por mia telefono.
Incorrect — the phone being sought is a direct object.
✅ Mi serĉas mian telefonon.
I’m looking for my phone.
Forgetting accusative agreement
❌ Ili serĉas pli granda apartamento.
Incorrect — the entire object phrase must be accusative.
✅ Ili serĉas pli grandan apartamenton.
They are looking for a bigger apartment.
Claiming a result with serĉi
❌ Mi serĉis la dosieron, do nun mi havas ĝin.
Faulty inference — serĉi does not entail finding.
✅ Mi serĉis la dosieron kaj fine trovis ĝin.
I looked for the file and finally found it.
Using plain serĉi for searching through a container
❌ La policano serĉis la valizon.
Wrong if the suitcase was present and its contents were examined; this says the officer looked for the suitcase.
✅ La policano traserĉis la valizon.
The police officer searched through the suitcase.
Copying English look for with rigardi
❌ Mi rigardas por nova laboro.
Incorrect — rigardi means direct one’s gaze, not seek.
✅ Mi serĉas novan laboron.
I’m looking for a new job.
Key Takeaways
Use serĉi + accusative object for the sought target, without por. A location or database follows en, inter, or another meaningful preposition. Serĉi names the attempt; trovi names success, and retrovi recovery. The compounds traserĉi and elserĉi change how the search relates to the object and are conventional parts of the same productive system.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- Trovi: To FindB1 — Use trovi for successful finding and judgment, distinguish it from serĉi and troviĝi, and master its object-predicative pattern.
- Direct ObjectsA1 — Learn which Esperanto verb complements are direct objects, how -n marks them, and how object marking remains stable when word order changes.
- Transitive and Intransitive VerbsA2 — Learn which verbs license a direct object, which require another construction, and how Esperanto systematically changes valency.
- Verb-Preposition FramesB1 — Learn which Esperanto verbs take direct objects and which select al, pri, de, kun, or je—and how the frame changes meaning.
- Verb CompoundsB1 — Build and interpret Esperanto verb compounds by tracking the action head, incorporated modifiers, valency, and conventional meanings.
- re-: ReturnA2 — Use re- with actions to express return to an earlier place or state, restoration, response, and repetition.