Learn English – What does “how do you find” mean

formal-languageword-usage

The context as blow:
How do you find your new apartment?
The author says it means "what do you think of something"
What do you think of your new apartment?

I have a feeling that this phrase means the way you looked for new apartment.Maybe through online or agent.

Best Answer

"How do you find your new apartment?"

This question is ambiguous. It can be interpreted in two different ways, making either one of these answers correct:

  1. "I find it dirty and in need of repair."

In this interpretation, it's treated as a question to somebody, asking them what they think of their new apartment. The response is given by somebody else.

  1. "You find it by looking through rental listings. You could also hire a real-estate agent."

Here, it's interpreted as a question that's asking how people, in general, go about finding new apartments. The response can either be given by the same person who asked the question or it (rhetorically) can be answered by the same person who asked it.

It's impossible to know from the sentence alone which meaning is meant. It can only be determined from context.

If the author was saying there is only a single meaning that can be assigned to the sentence, then they are wrong. If they were talking about what meaning they had assigned to the sentence, then that's fine.

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