Phrasal Verb: Stumble Across

Phrasal verb of the week: Stumble Across - Find by Chance (sounds more formal than come across)

✨Example sentences✨

He stumbled across an old book of spells.
I stumbled across a cheap flight and bought it.
Maybe if you relax, you will inadvertently stumble across a solution.

To stumble means to lose your balance or trip, almost fall. So what we image is someone inadvertently, maybe clumsily, tripping over something they didn’t expect. By the way, inadvertently means accidentally.


So we have learned:

Come across (find when you’re not looking for; normal conversation)

Run across (find when you’re not looking for; normal conversation)

Stumble across (find when you’re not looking for; more common in written language)

Run into (meet someone unexpectedly)

I came across a snake while I was out walking.
She ran across a great sale while she was out.
She stumbled across a pretty purple flower while she was playing.🪻
I ran into the guy I had a crush on in high school.

Notice that the first three sentences have a similar structure. “While I was” doesn’t have to be included, but it usually is, because it helps to illustrate that you found something in a moment that you were focused on doing something else. In other words, while you were not looking for it.

Also, remember that come across as = seem. How well you put your ideas across determines how they will come across. Maybe you can get your message across by thinking well about how to put your message across.

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