Meaning & use
find for yourself
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiom
To discover or learn something by your own effort, without being told or helped by others.
Grammar: Used with a reflexive pronoun that matches the subject: I found it for myself, she found it for herself. The object (it) can come before or after 'for yourself': find it for yourself OR find for yourself what you need.
Patterns
- find something for yourself
- find for yourself that ...
- find out for yourself
You can read the manual, but it's easier to find the answer for yourself by experimenting.
She didn't believe the rumor until she found the truth for herself.
He told me to find for myself whether the story was true.
Common combinations
- find out for yourself
- If you don't trust the reviews, go and find out for yourself.
- find it for yourself
- I could give you the address, but you can find it for yourself online.
- find the answer for yourself
- The teacher encouraged us to find the answer for ourselves.
Synonyms and how they differ
- discover
- More formal and often suggests finding something that was hidden or unknown; 'find for yourself' emphasizes personal effort rather than the act of discovery itself.
- learn
- Focuses on gaining knowledge or skill; 'find for yourself' focuses on the process of searching and coming to know something independently.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: find for yourself or find out?
find for yourself vs find out
'Find out' means to get information, often by asking or researching. 'Find for yourself' stresses doing it alone, without help. You can 'find out for yourself', but 'find for yourself' is less common and usually needs an object like 'it'.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
The reflexive pronoun must match the subject 'she', so 'herself' is correct. 'Yourself' would match 'you', 'himself' would match 'he', and 'themselves' would match 'they'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “find for yourself”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.