How to Say I Am Looking For in Japanese: Sagashite Imasu and Arimasu ka

O sagashite imasu: stating the search

Sagasu means to look for, and its te form with imasu, sagashite imasu, describes the search as something you are in the middle of. The thing you are looking for takes the particle o: kagi o sagashite imasu, I'm looking for my keys. Among friends, sagashiteru with the i dropped is the normal spoken form.

When you say this to someone in order to get help, Japanese speakers rarely leave the sentence bare. They add n desu ga at the end, which turns a statement into a soft lead-in, I'm looking for X, and, and leaves the request unspoken. Sumimasen, toire o sagashite iru n desu ga is a complete, polite way to ask where the toilet is, even though it never asks a question. The listener fills in the rest.

The plain sentence is right when you are reporting rather than asking: telling a colleague about your flat search, or answering a shop assistant who asks nanika o-sagashi desu ka, are you looking for something.

Wa arimasu ka and wa doko desu ka: the shop questions

In a shop, the verb sagasu is often not the most natural choice. What you really want to know is whether the shop has the thing, and that question is X wa arimasu ka, literally does X exist, meaning do you have X. It is short, polite and understood everywhere, from a drugstore to a hardware shop. If you have the item on your phone, kore wa arimasu ka with the screen held up is enough.

Once you know the item is stocked, or when the thing is a fixed place such as the toilet, the lift or a platform, the question becomes X wa doko desu ka, where is X. Asking doko desu ka about something the shop may not have can produce an awkward pause, because the assistant has to tell you it does not exist before answering where; arimasu ka first, doko desu ka second, is the smoother order.

Two useful variants: X wa oite imasu ka, do you carry X, and X wa dono hen desu ka, roughly where is X, which sounds a little softer than doko.

Looking for a person

For a person, the verb sagasu is correct but can sound dramatic, as if the person is missing. At an office or a hotel, the polite pattern is name plus wa irasshaimasu ka, is so-and-so here, using the respectful verb irassharu. To a receptionist, Tanaka-san to o-yakusoku ga arimasu, I have an appointment with Mr Tanaka, is often the better opener.

In a crowd, at a festival or a station, you look for a friend by describing them or by phone. Tomodachi o sagashite iru n desu ga to staff, followed by a description such as akai bōshi no hito, the person in the red hat, gets help. Between friends the exchange is simpler: ima doko?, where are you now; kita-guchi ni iru, I'm at the north exit; sugu iku, coming now. The Find a Friend at a Festival mission practises exactly this.

Looking for a job

Shigoto o sagashite imasu is the plain sentence, and it is perfectly natural in conversation. The more formal set phrases are shūshoku katsudō o shite imasu, I am job hunting, often shortened to shūkatsu, and tenshoku katsudō, changing jobs. Say what kind of work with a description before shigoto: nihongo o tsukau shigoto, work using Japanese; zaitaku de dekiru shigoto, work I can do from home.

In a recruitment agency or on a job site the vocabulary shifts to kibō, hope or preference: kibō shokushu, preferred type of job; kibō kinmuchi, preferred location; kibō nenshū, desired salary. An agent will ask dono yō na o-shigoto o o-sagashi desu ka, what sort of work are you looking for, and a clear answer of one or two sentences is enough. The Japanese Job Interview mission on Unihongo picks up the next step.

Looking for an apartment

At an estate agent, fudōsan-ya, the search starts with heya o sagashite iru n desu ga, I'm looking for a room, and the agent will ask about conditions, jōken: area, budget, layout, distance from the station and move-in date. Fees, deposits and rules vary by property and by agent, so ask directly and have anything unclear written down.

Give your priorities in order. Eki kara toho jūppun inai de, within ten minutes' walk of the station, and yachin wa hachiman-en made, rent up to eighty thousand yen, are the shape of the sentences; the numbers are only examples. The View an Apartment mission on Unihongo runs through the visit that follows.

A typical opening at the counter: sumimasen, heya o sagashite iru n desu ga, eki kara chikakute, yachin wa hachiman-en gurai made de. Excuse me, I'm looking for a room, close to the station, rent up to about eighty thousand yen. Then let the agent ask.

Lost items, briefly

When you have lost something, sagasu still describes what you are doing, but the sentence people expect is about the loss: X o nakushite shimatta n desu ga, I've lost X. At a station office or a shop counter, that sentence plus a description is what starts the procedure. Otoshimono, dropped item, and wasuremono, forgotten item, are the words on the signs. A separate guide on this site covers lost and found in full, including the forms and the follow-up call, and the Report a Lost Wallet mission lets you practise it.

Sagasu versus mitsukeru

Sagasu is the activity of searching. Mitsukeru is the result, to find, and it is transitive: watashi wa kagi o mitsuketa, I found the keys. Its intransitive partner mitsukaru means to be found or to turn up, with the thing as the subject: kagi ga mitsukatta, the keys turned up. English learners tend to say mitsukeru when they mean sagasu, producing sentences like I found a job to mean I'm looking for one.

The pair produces the sentences you need at the end of a search. Mitsukarimashita, it's been found, is what staff say when the item turns up; mada mitsukatte imasen, not found yet, is the honest reply; yatto mitsuketa, finally found it, is the sigh of relief. Miru, to look at, is not a search verb at all.

• Sagasu: to look for, the search itself; takes o
• Mitsukeru: to find, transitive; someone finds something
• Mitsukaru: to be found, intransitive; something turns up
• Miru: to look at or see; not a search
• Mitsukarimashita: it's been found; mada mitsukatte imasen: not yet

A full search in three sentences: kagi o sagashite imasu, kagi ga mitsukarimasen, a, mitsuketa. I'm looking for my keys, I can't find them, oh, found them.

Common mistakes

The first mistake is the particle. Sagasu takes o, not ga or ni: shigoto o sagashite imasu. Ga belongs to mitsukaru, shigoto ga mitsukatta, the job was found.

The second is using doko desu ka for something that may not exist. In a shop, ask arimasu ka first. The third is a bare sagashite imasu with no softening when you want help; add sumimasen and n desu ga, and the sentence turns into a polite request.

The fourth is the honorific. O-sagashi desu ka is what staff say to you; about your own search, say sagashite imasu.