realize / find out /learn

This would be my usage, I think:

You suddenly remembered that you'd left it at home: realize.

You tried to get it out of your pocket, handbag, etc. and discovered it wasn't there: find out, discover or realize.

Someone else told you that you'd left it at home, or you discovered the fact through some similarly indirect method: find out or learn.

I found out/learned/discovered the news by reading the newspaper/by watching TV -- to me, these are not massively natural things to say, but are all OK I guess, provided that "the news" refers to a particular item of news. The sentence doesn't really work if "the news" is meant as "the news in general". "Realize" does not work here.

To find out/learn/discover more, visit our website. -- all OK, though "discover" seems a bit pretentious to me (sounds like marketing hyperbole). "Realize" does not work here.

Anonymous

"Someone else told you that you'd left it at home, or you discovered the fact through some similarly indirect method: find out or learn."

Can I use 'discover' here, too?

Yep, I guess so. That was probably an oversight on my part.

Anonymous

How do you say it if "the news" is meant as "the news in general"?

I think I would just say "I read the newspaper" or "I watched the news on TV". It's obvious that I would find out about the news in general by doing this, so I don't think I'd feel the need to explicitly say so.

To indicate that this was a general habit, I might say something like "I keep up with the news by reading the paper/watching the bulletins on TV".

"Find out" is the most likely choice. However, you wouldn't normally say "... call and ask Mary to find out ...". You would just say:

I'll call Mary to find out if she'll come over tonight.

In this sentence, "discover" and "learn" are not impossible but are less likely.