[General] Have found a great friend in you

[luxury20041985]

"I have found a great friend in you. "

If I say this sentence without any further context, does it mean 1 or 2?

1. I realize that you are my friend. How I have realized this is not implied.
2. I realize that you are my friend. Our friendship gradually emerged. For example, I joined a new group and hanged out with them every week. At first, they were my acquaintances. Over time, one of them showed some qualities I really like. Naturally and gradually, I became friends with that person. (How I have realized this is implied)

I asked a related question here, but didn't get a definite answer. https://forum.wordreference.com/thr...ion-in-oliver-cromwell.3583345/#post-18232628

 

[jutfrank]

It's not clear what you're asking exactly. Are you asking whether there is an implication that the realisation happened gradually? Or whether there's an implication that the friendship emerged gradually?

You could use this sentence to tell the person that you consider yourself lucky to have met him/her, and that the friendship that emerged between you is valuable to you. You're talking about a current state of affairs (your current feelings about the person). You're not saying anything about how these feelings came to be, or about how the relationship was formed.

 

[Tdol]

How about:

I have found you to be a great friend.