Trovi is the regular transitive verb “to find”: it presents the successful result of searching, the discovery of something not previously noticed, or a judgment about an object. Its two essential patterns are trovi ion “find something” and trovi ion interesa “find something interesting.” The related troviĝi means “be located, be found,” with the located entity as subject.
Complete regular paradigm
| Form | Function | Typical translation |
|---|---|---|
| trovi | infinitive | to find |
| trovas | present indicative | find(s), considers |
| trovis | past indicative | found, considered |
| trovos | future indicative | will find |
| trovus | conditional | would find |
| trovu | volitive | find!, let ... find |
The stem trov- remains unchanged, and the same finite form serves every subject: mi trovas, ŝi trovas, ili trovas.
Mi trovis viajn aŭdilojn inter la sofaj kusenoj.
I found your headphones between the sofa cushions.
Ni trovos alian daton, se ĵaŭdo ne konvenas al ĉiuj.
We'll find another date if Thursday doesn't suit everyone.
Kion vi farus, se vi trovus pasporton sur la trotuaro?
What would you do if you found a passport on the pavement?
Trovus makes the finding hypothetical; trovu expresses a wanted result, often as an instruction: Trovu du ekzemplojn en la teksto.
Successful finding versus searching
Serĉi names the attempt or activity; trovi names its successful outcome. Both verbs take direct objects with accusative -n.
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.
Ni ankoraŭ serĉas loĝejon proksime al la universitato, sed ni trovis nenion pageblan.
We're still looking for housing near the university, but we haven't found anything affordable.
English marks “look for” with a preposition; Esperanto does not. It uses serĉi ion, and the successful result is trovi ion. Trovi itself also needs no preposition before its object.
Finding may be unplanned:
Promenante laŭ la rivero, ŝi trovis trankvilan lokon por legi.
While walking along the river, she found a quiet place to read.
Or it may be abstract:
La teamo trovis praktikan solvon sen pliigi la buĝeton.
The team found a practical solution without increasing the budget.
Frequent neutral combinations include trovi solvon, trovi tempon, trovi vojon, trovi laboron, and trovi komunan lingvon. The last is figurative: the participants reach mutual understanding.
Judging an object: trovi ion interesa
Trovi can mean “consider, judge, experience as.” A direct object is followed by a predicative description of that same object.
Mi trovis la unuan ĉapitron iom konfuza, sed poste la argumento klariĝis.
I found the first chapter somewhat confusing, but later the argument became clear.
The roles are different: la unuan ĉapitron is the object and takes -n; konfuza describes the object's judged property and does not take -n. Compare:
- Mi trovis la interesan libron. — I found the interesting book. The adjective is inside the object phrase.
- Mi trovis la libron interesa. — I found/considered the book interesting. The adjective is a predicative complement.
With a plural object, the predicative adjective agrees in number but still lacks accusative -n:
La gastoj trovis la ĉambrojn puraj kaj komfortaj.
The guests found the rooms clean and comfortable.
Mi trovas tiun opcion tro riska por malgranda organizaĵo.
I consider that option too risky for a small organization.
This pattern is fully standard. It is not an omission of expected agreement; the absence of -n marks that the adjective is a separate predicate rather than a modifier within the object noun phrase. See Predicative Complements and the Accusative for the wider system.
Discovering a fact: trovi, ke...
A ke-clause presents a complete fact or conclusion discovered through investigation or experience.
Post la ĝisdatigo ni trovis, ke du malnovaj ligiloj ne plu funkcias.
After the update, we found that two old links no longer worked.
La esploristoj trovis, ke la du metodoj donas preskaŭ samajn rezultojn.
The researchers found that the two methods produce almost identical results.
This usage is common in neutral and (academic) prose. Esperanto chooses the tense inside the ke-clause according to the time actually meant; it does not automatically shift the embedded verb into the past merely because trovis is past.
Troviĝi: be located or be found
The suffix -iĝ- removes the external finder and presents the entity as entering or occupying the resulting state. In established modern usage, troviĝi very often simply means “be situated, be located.”
La plej proksima apoteko troviĝas kontraŭ la poŝtoficejo.
The nearest pharmacy is located opposite the post office.
La dosiero troviĝas en la komuna dosierujo sub la nomo ‘Raporto’.
The file is in the shared folder under the name ‘Report’.
Grammatically, la apoteko and la dosiero are subjects, so they do not take accusative. This is not an English-style passive auxiliary. A true eventive passive can use a participle: La mankanta dosiero estis trovita de la teknikisto “The missing file was found by the technician.”
— Kie troviĝas la necesejo? — Je la fino de la koridoro, maldekstre.
— Where is the restroom? — At the end of the corridor, on the left.
The short exchange illustrates the extremely common neutral location question Kie troviĝas ...? In relaxed conversation, plain Kie estas ...? is often even simpler.
Trovi sin is different again: it means find oneself, literally or figuratively, in a place or situation.
Post la nuligita flugo ni subite trovis nin sen hotelo en nekonata urbo.
After the canceled flight, we suddenly found ourselves without a hotel in an unfamiliar city.
Productive derivatives
- eltrovi — find out, discover through inquiry;
- retrovi — find again, recover, rediscover;
- trovitaĵo — a found object or find;
- trovinto — a person who found something;
- trovinda — worth finding, uncommon outside special contexts.
Ĉu vi eltrovis, kial la pordo ne ŝlosiĝas?
Did you find out why the door won't lock?
Mi retrovis malnovan amikon per la reta adresaro.
I found an old friend again through the online directory.
Eltrovi foregrounds obtaining previously unknown information. Malkovri overlaps when something concealed or unknown is discovered, especially a phenomenon or fact; inventi means create something new and is not a synonym of “discover.”
Participles and register
| Time relation | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| ongoing | trovanta — finding | trovata — being found |
| earlier/completed | trovinta — having found | trovita — found |
| later/intended | trovonta — about to find | trovota — to be found |
La trovita monujo estis redonita al sia posedanto la saman tagon.
The wallet that was found was returned to its owner the same day.
Trovi and troviĝi are frequent and neutral across registers. Trovi, ke... is especially useful in reports and research writing, while the judgment pattern trovi ion interesa is normal in both conversation and edited prose. Trovota is fully grammatical but much less frequent than trovita, simply because texts more often report completed findings than predict a specific future one.
In status terms, foundational norm supplies trov-, the regular endings, and the accusative object. Accepted variation includes Kie estas ...? beside Kie troviĝas ...?, with the latter explicitly presenting location. The pedagogical recommendation is to keep predicative adjectives free of -n and to reserve serĉi for the attempt. Attested usage strongly supports troviĝi as a neutral location verb and trovi ion ia as a judgment pattern.
Common Mistakes
Confusing the search with its outcome
❌ Mi trovis miajn ŝlosilojn dum unu horo, sed ili ankoraŭ mankas.
Incorrect — an unsuccessful or ongoing search requires serĉi.
✅ Mi serĉis miajn ŝlosilojn dum unu horo, sed ili ankoraŭ mankas.
I looked for my keys for an hour, but they're still missing.
Adding a preposition before the object
❌ Ni fine trovis al bona hotelo proksime al la stacidomo.
Incorrect — the thing found is a direct object, not an al-complement.
✅ Ni fine trovis bonan hotelon proksime al la stacidomo.
We finally found a good hotel near the station.
Giving the object predicative accusative -n
❌ Mi trovis la proponon tro multekostan.
Incorrect for 'I considered the proposal too expensive' — the result description is predicative.
✅ Mi trovis la proponon tro multekosta.
I found the proposal too expensive.
Treating troviĝi as a transitive verb
❌ La muzeon troviĝas apud la rivero.
Incorrect — the located entity is the subject of troviĝas.
✅ La muzeo troviĝas apud la rivero.
The museum is located beside the river.
Key Takeaways
- Trovi presents a successful finding and takes a direct object; serĉi presents the attempt.
- In trovi ion interesa, the object takes -n, but its predicative description does not.
- Trovi, ke... introduces a discovered fact; eltrovi often means “find out.”
- Troviĝi is intransitive and commonly means “be located,” with the located entity as subject.
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Start learning Esperanto →Related Topics
- Direct ObjectsA1 — Learn which Esperanto verb complements are direct objects, how -n marks them, and how object marking remains stable when word order changes.
- Predicative Complements and the AccusativeB1 — Distinguish Esperanto predicative complements from accusative objects and attributive modifiers, especially in clauses that describe an object.
- Serĉi: To Look ForB2 — Use serĉi directly with the sought person or thing, and distinguish the search process from the result expressed by trovi.
- Ke-ClausesA2 — How finite clauses introduced by ke function as statements, subjects, objects, complements, and content descriptions.
- Valency-Changing DerivationB1 — Use -ig- and -iĝ- to add a causer, remove a causer, and build precise causative and change-of-state verbs in Esperanto.
- The Six Participles: A System MapB1 — Map Esperanto's six participles by voice and relative time, then use them as adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and compound verb forms.