The Phrasal Verb 'Find Out' Explained
- Phrasal Verbs Explained
- Oct 10
- 8 min read
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'find out' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native.
This article is all about the phrasal verb 'find out', which is one that is extremely well known among English learners due to how common it is in everyday English. Did you know however that there are in fact two ways to use it? If you didn't, don't worry because in this post, I will explain both of these uses for you in detail, with a lot of example sentences for each one to ensure that you can find out as much as you can about this indispensable little phrasal verb 😊 So, without further ado, let's make a start....
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THE BASICS
FIND OUT: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Common |
Number of meanings | 2 |
Past tense forms | Found out / Found out |
Separable? | Yes |
Before we look at the meanings of 'find out', I just want to quickly consider the individual words 'find' and 'out' themselves to understand what they individually contribute to the phrasal verb.
'To find' is a commonplace verb in English that means 'to discover something'; this may be intentionally when you have lost something and are looking for it, or it may be by accident when you come across something unexpectedly. Like a lot of common verbs in English, 'to find' is irregular, with 'found' being both the simple past and past participle forms. In addition to this main meaning, 'to find' can also be used to mean 'to be present somewhere' and 'to feel a certain way about something' among other lesser used meanings.
Claire found a £50 note on the pavement.
The police have found the stolen car.
Where can I find a shop that sells British newspapers?
Traces of cocaine were found in the person's blood.
I find that as I get older I dislike cities more and more.
The prepositional particle 'out' is one of the most commonly featured particles in phrasal verb constructions. 'Out' often means away from the centre of something or a movement towards, or into, an external area from an internal one and this meaning can often be carried across into phrasal verbs, with ideas like removal and distribution (throw out, hand out). In addition to this, 'out' can be used in phrasal verbs to add ideas such as completion (work out), ending (go out) and disappearance (fade out).
So, now that we have covered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'find out'....
MEANING 1: To learn new information
CEFR Language Level | C1- Beginner |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To discover, to learn, to seek out |
Separable? | Yes |
The first of our two meanings of 'find out' is the most common one and is one that I am sure that you will know already and that is 'to learn new information'.
Words that commonly follow this application....
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When we discover new information, it may be in the form of factual information that we obtain from reading or asking questions or it may be in the form of information that we get from using our senses to perceive and interpret the world around us and what is happening in it. Moreover, this may be intentionally or by chance and we can use 'find out' in all of these scenarios.
For example, many of us now have internet-enabled smartphones that give us access to a huge amount of information at any time that we want it. If you are curious about something and want to learn new information about it e.g. how many people live in Hawaii or what are the lyrics of a song, it is possible to look it up on a search engine on your phone and find the information out. Furthermore, it is likely that many of you reading this are here intentionally because you want to find out more information about the phrasal verb 'find out'.
To give you a few more examples, you can also find out your exam or health test results, you may want to find out when a person's birthday is or how many siblings they have and your boss may ask you to find out some information that they will need for a specific task that they are working on.
I am going to find out who’s responsible for this error.
Louise found out the truth after asking several witnesses.
We need to find out what time our train leaves tomorrow.
The journalist found out more details about the political scandal.
John has been trying to find out how the new system works since yesterday morning.
They tried to found out the cost of the project by contacting the contractor responsible for it.
Let’s find out whether the art gallery is open on Mondays.
Can you find out where Melanie bought that jacket; it's so nice!
The company found out what their customers wanted through surveys.
In the sentences above, you will note that in each scenario the person wanted to discover or find out the information but as I stated earlier, we can also use 'find out' when the information discovery is accidental.
For example, someone might find out that their partner is cheating on them if they accidentally see a text message or email from his or her lover, or if you do a DNA test, you could find out that you have a half brother or sister who you did not know existed (this recently happened to a friend of mine).
I found out by accident that George was leaving the company.
Jimmy found out about his surprise party when he saw the decorations outside his house.
They only found out Jackie was already married after the wedding ceremony.
I found out about the death of an old friend whilst scrolling on social media.
During the house extension work, the family found out that there was a secret hidden cellar underneath the kitchen.
In terms of register, whilst 'find out' is used a lot in spoken English, it is often replaced by a verb such as 'to discover' or 'to learn' in written English, particularly when it is a formal document. You are still likely to see 'find out' a lot on social media and in informal written English though.
One last thing that I want to stress here is that this first application is extremely common in spoken everyday English and you can hear it being used by native speakers all the time. In all my years of teaching English, I've often noticed how learners and non-native speakers do not use it as much, choosing synonyms like 'to learn' and 'to know' instead. Whilst this is fine and there is usually nothing wrong with it, I would urge any learners to adopt a habit of using this application of 'find out' as it can really help your English to sound natural.
BONUS: To find out for oneself
A fairly common variation of this first application is 'to find out for oneself', which is perhaps quite an obvious meaning but I will explain it nevertheless.
If you find something out for yourself, rather than learning about or discovering something through someone else's second-hand information, you discover it through direct personal experience or through personal investigation. It tends to be used more for experiences than for learning information but it is possible for both.
You think it's easy but one day you will find out for yourself how difficult it is to live alone.
Don’t just take my word for it; find out for yourself if it really works!
Kerry found out for herself that managing a business is harder than it looks.
Everyone must find out for themselves what they really want in life.
MEANING 2: To be discovered after doing something wrong
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To discover |
Separable? | Yes |
The second of our two applications of the phrasal verb 'find out' is really an evolution of the first but it is quite specific and is definitely more of an advanced level usage. Rather than finding information out, we are now finding people out and we use this for situations in which a person is discovered after doing something wrong.
We use this application for any time when a person does something that they hide so that other people do not know about it for a period of time. When the truth of what the person has been doing becomes known, we can say that he or she has been "found out".
As I stated above, this is typically used when the concealed activity is negative in nature and therefore includes lies, deception and secrets as well as criminal activities like fraud, theft and bribery. It could also be used when someone's real character is discovered and a part of themselves that they kept hidden becomes evident to other people. As a result of often being associated with negative activities, this usage does carry negative connotations, but it is still possible to use it for positive things that involve secrets like planning a surprise party, but this usage is much rarer.
On a grammatical note, this application is often used in the passive voice as our focus tends to be on the discovery of the hidden wrongdoings and is often not on the person or people who discovered it.
The thief was eventually found out by the police.
Michelle pretended to be a lawyer, but she was soon found out when people realised she had no law knowledge.
If you cheat on the test, you’ll definitely be found out.
He tried to hide his past, but his friends found him out over time.
Don’t lie; you’ll be found out sooner or later.
They thought that no one would notice, but their fraudulent activity was found out in the end.
Morgan was afraid of being found out as a fake.
It took months, but the journalist finally found the corrupt officials out.
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'find out'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'find out'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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THE END
I've just found out, at my age of almost 70, that teaching children is an amazing vocation.