In this mini episode, you will learn a less common meaning of the word “find.”
Episode 361 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you a less common meaning of the verb “find.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi, everyone! This is Ellie, from China. You’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 361 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you about the word find. Find: f-i-n-d.
This is a common verb, and I’m sure you have already learned the common meaning of this word. Find usually means “to discover” or “to learn something.” So, you will hear it in sentences like “I am trying to find the solution to this problem.” I am trying to find the solution to this problem.
We often use find to mean “to learn or discover the location of something.” You will often hear this meaning of the word find in a sentence like “I cannot find my phone.” Where is my phone? I cannot find it.
But find can have another meaning also. I think this meaning might be a little bit less common. Find can also mean “to think or feel about something in a certain way.”
Here are some sentences that use the verb find with this maybe less common meaning:
“I met my new doctor today. I think I find him a little bit rude.” I find him a little bit rude.
In other words, I have an opinion about him, and that opinion is, he is a little bit rude. This describes how I think about him, or how I feel about him. It describes my opinion of my new doctor. My opinion is, he is a little bit rude. And we can say this as “I find him a little bit rude.”
Or, how about this example?
“She often finds science fiction movies boring.” She often finds science fiction movies boring.
This tells us what her opinion of science fiction movies is. She often finds them boring. She often thinks that they’re boring. Or she often feels that they are boring.
This meaning of find is not really about learning or discovering something. It is about thinking or feeling a certain way about something.
And we use this meaning of find in this construction: to find something a certain way. To find a doctor rude, to find science fiction movies boring.
So, you can make your own sentences using this meaning of the word find by putting it into this construction:
To find something or someone this way. To find (a noun) (adjective). That is how you use find with this other meaning. Maybe this meaning is a little bit less common, but I still think that you will hear it often.
Outro
This is the end of episode 361 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Ellie recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!