Introduction
Here’s an expression to talk about guiding someone through something, or explaining something to them. Learn how to use it in this programme.
Transcript
Phil
Welcome to The English we speak, with me Phil…
Feifei
And me, Feifei.
Phil
Today’s expression is about showing people how to do things, or explaining something to them it’s ‘walk someone through’.
Feifei
‘Walk someone through’ – when would you use this?
Phil
It’s most commonly used at work, it means to guide, explain, or practise something step-by-step. So, if there’s something new, and you don’t know how to do it – you need someone to walk you through it.
Feifei
I remember when you started working here – we had to walk you through everything. Luckily, it’s all on computers, so there much wasn’t much actual walking at all.
Phil
No, it’s not really about walking, it’s about doing everything slowly and carefully, one step at a time together with someone else. We often use it with different processes. As you were saying, it’s very common for when someone starts a new job.
Feifei
Well, until you walk someone through something, they never really understand it properly. It’s good to look at each step in turn.
Phil
True! As well as processes it can also be used more generally to mean ‘explain something carefully’. Listen to these examples.
Examples
We need to produce this report every week, don’t worry I can walk you through it.
There’s a lot of information here, but I can walk you through what it all means.
It’s going to be a really busy event, but I can walk you though what’s going to happen.
Feifei
You’re listening to The English we speak from BBC Learning English, and we are learning the expression ‘walk someone through something’, which means guide someone through something.
Phil
It’s a verb, but there is also a noun that comes from it. We can talk about a ‘walkthrough’ – that’s a practise or a demonstration of something.
Feifei
So after you’ve walked someone through a process, they can do a walkthrough so you can see if they understand it!
Phil
Well, hopefully now we’ve walked you through, how to use ‘walk someone through’ Let’s stop here.
Feifei
See you next time!
Phil
Bye!