Meaning & use
found
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
The past tense and past participle of find: discovered, came across or located something.
Grammar: Takes an object: she found her keys. It can also be used with a that-clause: he found that it worked.
Patterns
- found something
- found that something
- found something easy
I found my wallet under the sofa.
She found the exam easier than she expected.
Scientists found that the water was safe to drink.
verbtransitive
To set up an organization, institution or town, usually with money or plans for it to last.
Grammar: Takes an object and is a regular verb: found, founded, founded. Do not confuse its past form founded with found.
Patterns
- found a company
- found a school
Two classmates decided to found a software company.
The monks found a monastery on the hill in 1210.
He hopes to found a charity for homeless pets.
verbtransitivetechnicalrare
To melt metal and pour it into a mold to make objects, as in a foundry.
Grammar: A technical verb that takes an object: found bronze into statues.
Patterns
- found metal
Workers found the iron into large cooking pots.
The artist founds her sculptures in a local workshop.
Bell makers once founded church bells on site.
Word forms
| third person singular | founds |
|---|---|
| past tense | founded |
| past participle | founded |
| -ing form | founding |
Common combinations
- found guilty
- The jury found him guilty of fraud.
- found out
- She found out the truth last week.
- found a company
- They plan to found a company next year.
- founded in
- The university was founded in 1890.
- found it hard
- I found it hard to concentrate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- discovered
- Discovered suggests finding something new or hidden, while found is the general everyday word.
- located
- Located is more formal and focuses on working out where something is.
- established
- Established fits the sense of founding, but also suggests making something stable and recognized.
- set up
- Set up is a less formal phrase for starting an organization.
Opposites
Word family
- founder noun
- a person who starts an organization
- foundation noun
- an institution or the base of a building
- founding adjective
- relating to the start of something
- foundry noun
- a workshop where metal is cast
Commonly confused: found or founded? found or fond?
found vs founded
Founded is the past of found in the sense of establishing: the school was founded in 1900, not found in 1900.
found vs fond
Fond means having affection for something and is pronounced differently.
Practice
The college was ___ in 1854 by a group of local teachers.
Choose one answer.
Founded is the past participle of found meaning to establish. Found is the past participle of find and would mean discovered.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “found”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.