を見つかる？

[Bucko]

Hey everyone,

I can't understand why this sentence uses 見つかる as a transitive verb...

今朝は危ないところだった。机でコンピューターゲームをやっているところを、上司に見つかりそうになった

Shouldn't it be 〜を上司に見つけられそうになった? I.e. the passive form of the transitive verb 見つける?

[nice gaijin]

For some reason, 見つかりそう sounds right. There might be a nuanced difference in meaning, like shifting the emphasis slightly. Although both make sense, when there's a transitivity pair, the second form seems more common than a conjugation of the first; 見つけられそう seems overly complicated.

[Elizabeth]

For some reason, 見つかりそう sounds right. There might be a nuanced difference in meaning, like shifting the emphasis slightly. Although both make sense, when there's a transitivity pair, the second form seems more common than a conjugation of the first; 見つけられそう seems overly complicated.
見つかりそう is fine. I'm wondering why it's marked with an を not が but simply too tired now to give it much thought. :relief:

[orochi]

For the same reason you'd say:

警察に捕まった。
I got nabbed by the cops.

[JimmySeal]

Still, the を in this sentence should probably be が, but I can't say that with complete certainty.