The verb 发现 means to discover, or to find and is part of the HSK vocabulary list. Below we provide some real examples of the verb 发现 in everyday and academic use. Learn how to use the verb 发现 by studying the real life sentence examples, below.
发现 sentence example 1
Read the exchange below and notice the use of 发现 in a real-life exchange between a teacher and her pupils.
Teacher: 那我们呀就先来认识图中这些可爱的小同学们吧。你在仔细地看看他们你有发现什么了？
Nǎ wǒmen ya jiù xiān lái rènshi tú zhòng zhèxiē kěàide xiǎo tóngxuémen bā. Nǐ zài zǐxì dé kànkan tāmen nǐyǒu fāxiàn shénme le？
We’ve been looking at the picture for a while now so what have you noticed about the lovely little students?
Student 1) 老师， 我发现他们都背着书包。
Lǎoshī wǒ fāxiàn tāmendōu bèizhe shūbāo
Teacher, I have noticed that they all have schoolbags on their backs.
Student 2: 我还发现这些小同学们都在开心的笑，他们一定很高兴。
Wǒ hái fāxiàn zhèxiē xiǎo tóngxuémen dōu zài kāixīn de xiào tāmen yīdìng hěngāoxīng.
I’ve noticed that all the students are smiling, they must be very happy.
For the full context, please see the following page:
Chinese State School year one textbook – lesson 1 – 我是小学生
发现 sentence example 2
In the next examples, also from a teacher, we see 发现 being used in a question form to mean notice. Ie. have you noticed?
Teacher: 同学们，第二行字中有一个字啊和地字非常像。你们发现了吗？
Tóngxuémen dì èr háng zì zhōng yǒu yīgè zì a hé dì zì fēicháng xiàng. Nǐmen fāxiàn le mǎ?
Students, on the second line there is a character that is very similar to the character for land. Have you noticed it?
For context see lesson 4, The Chinese Primary School Textbook
For context see lesson 5, the Chinese Primary School textbook
发现 sentence example 3
The next example comes from a couple of sentences from a book called 两件衬衫 Two Red Shirts. In this extract the character 钱乐乐 is starting at a new school, at first he struggles to make friends but eventually they grow to like him.
乐乐跟大家太不一样了, 所以开始的时候大家不太喜欢他,不知道要不要跟他说话,也不知道跟他说什么. 但漫漫地, 大家发现, 钱乐乐是一个不错的朋友.
lè lè gēn dà jiā tài bù yī yàng liǎo , suǒ yǐ kāi shǐ de shí hòu dà jiā bù tài xǐ huān tā , bù zhī dào yào bù yào gēn tā shuō huà , yě bù zhī dào gēn tā shuō shén me . dàn màn màn dì , dà jiā fā xiàn , qián lè lè shì yī gè bù cuò de péng yǒu
Le Le was very different from everyone else so at first none of them liked him, and no one knew whether to talk to him or not, or what to say. But after a while they realised he was a good friend.
This is an extract from page 18+19 of 两件衬衫 Two Red Shirts, Peking University Press.
发现 sentence example 4
The next example is from a video about an archaeological discovery in 1986 at a site called Sanxingdui. Note that here 发现 is translated as came across.
1986一群砖瓦厂的工人正在地理取土烧砖。他们发现了土里有一些玉石的碎片
1986 yī qún zhuān wǎ chǎng de gōng rén zhèng zài dì lǐ qǔ tǔ shāo zhuān 。 tā mén fā xiàn liǎo tǔ lǐ yǒu yī xiē yù shí de suì piàn
In 1986 a team of workers from a brick and tile factory were taking soil from the ground to burn in the process of firing bricks. While working they came across some jade fragments.
If you would like to find out more about Sanxingdui, then visit this page: Sanxingdui
发现 sentence example 5
In our next example a man finds an antique vase while strolling in a market. For full context visit the following page: the fat man and the vase.
胖子在逛地摊时发现了一件古代瓷瓶.
pàng zǐ zài guàng dì tān shí fā xiàn liǎo yī jiàn gǔ dài cí píng
The fat man discovered an ancient porcelain vase while visiting a stall in the mark