find
faɪnd
Find is not the searching — it is the instant your eye lands
The picture Your eye comes down and stops on the thing whose whereabouts you did not know. Look for is the head still turning; find is the instant the eye lands on it.
Where the picture shows up in find
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landing on a lost thing
I cannot find my phone anywhere.
aɪ ˈkænɑːt faɪnd maɪ foʊn ˈeniwer
My phone is nowhere to be seen.
The whole bag is turned out and still no spot for the eye to land on.
Cannot find means the landing has not happened yet.
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landing on the fault
They found the problem in the wiring.
ðeɪ faʊnd ðə ˈprɑːbləm ɪn ðə ˈwaɪərɪŋ
They traced it to the wiring.
The wall is opened, a torch sweeps, and the eye stops dead on one scorched wire.
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landing on work
She found a job at the bakery.
ʃiː faʊnd ə dʒɑːb æt ðə ˈbeɪkəri
She got taken on at the bakery.
Her eye stops on the card in the glass door, and she is handed an apron on the spot.
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landing on a verdict after trying it
I find this chair too hard.
aɪ faɪnd ðɪs tʃer tuː hɑːrd
This chair is too hard for me.
Ten minutes of sitting, and the eye comes down on the word hard.
I find + object + adjective is a verdict reached by going through it yourself.
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landing on a gap in a full day
Can you find time for a short call?
kæn juː faɪnd taɪm fɔːr ə ʃɔːrt kɔːl
Could you spare me ten minutes on the phone?
A finger runs down a packed calendar and stops on one empty ten-minute slot.
All of it in one picture
Find is the instant of landing. Land on an object and the lost thing is back; land on a burnt wire and the fault is out; land on a card in a bakery window and you have work. Land on the word hard after ten minutes in a chair and you have a verdict, and land on a gap in a packed day and you have made time.