English Help Online's Blog

Many common verbs in English have more than one meaning, and this can cause confusion among people who are learning the language. The verb “find” is one of these verbs. Most people know the first meaning of “find”, which is to locate something. However, there is another common meaning of this verb which many people don’t know about. The second meaning is similiar to “think”. However, when we use “find” instead of “think”, it means that the opinion is based on our own personal experience of the situation. For example:

I found Brad Pitt’s new action movie very exciting but too long.

I find my new boss to be extremely demanding.

Generally speaking, Korean food is too spicy for me, but I found the Korean food at the new restaurant downtown to be quite mild and delicious.

A: How did you find Italy when you were there last summer?

B: I found it very interesting. I’d love to go back there again sometime.

When we use this meaning of “find”, we can use “to be” in front of the adjective, but it’s not necessary. It’s important to note that when we use “think”, the opinion may or may not be based on our actual experience, but when we use “find”, the listener knows that it is based on our actual experience. Therefore. if we  read about a certain place or see something about it on TV, we can use “think”, but we CAN’T use “find”.