Why is “con” needed in the sentence

Question

Al llegar a casa _me encontré_con una cocina inundada.Hola, why is con included in the above sentence ? Muchas gracias, Shirley.

Silvia Píriz · Accepted Answer

Hola Shirley S.
In this sentence, encontrarse con is a fixed expression meaning to find oneself faced with or to come across something unexpectedly. The preposition con is part of the verb, so it can't be omitted:
Al llegar a casa, me encontré con una cocina inundada. = When I got home, I found myself faced with a flooded kitchen.
Without con (me encontré una cocina inundada), the meaning changes to the transitive verb encontrar, meaning to find or discover something. Both are grammatically correct, but encontrarse con emphasizes the unexpected situation or encounter.
Un saludo
Silvia