Skip to main content
to walk someone through

to walk someone through

86 3.4
Help someone do something by giving step-by-step instructions
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : explicar paso a paso
  • I'd be more than happy to walk you through it.
  • walk someone through the process
  • walk someone through the steps
  • walk teachers through

Examples

  • Despommier was walking his class through the ways in which the world is collapsing.

    Academic text (2011)
  • I will walk you through the steps to complete the software installation.

  • Now would somebody walk me through what happened here, please?

  • We'll walk you through it one at a time!

  • Could you walk us through what we're seeing here?

  • Watch it below, and then I'll walk you through why it works so well.

    Blog text (22)
  • I'm asking for you to walk me through the data that brought you to this conclusion.

    Blog text (9)
  • There are multiple helpful blogs to read that can walk you through the process of making a website.

    Blog text (6)
  • For those who didn't get the opportunity to see the fight, walk us through it briefly.

    Blog text (11)
  • He'd fold up his hunting gear, stuff his backpack, and walk us through the itinerary.

    Fiction book (1999)

Synonyms

to explain
vsto walk someone through
1.0

To make something clear by describing it in simple words

gives step by step practical help to complete a task rather than only clarity
to go through
vsto walk someone through
390 2.7

To look at something carefully to find mistakes or missing details

helps another person step by step to finish a process rather than just review it
to guide
vsto walk someone through
313 1.0

To show someone the way by going with them

provides stepwise verbal help to complete a process rather than leading
to direct
vsto walk someone through
240 1.6

To tell someone what to do or show them the way

is more hands on giving step by step help not orders
to instruct
vsto walk someone through
188 2.8

To tell someone to do something, often as an order

offers step by step help to complete a process

Antonyms

266 1.9

Make someone unable to think clearly or make something hard to understand

87 3.9

Make someone believe something that is not true

How Thorough

to walk someone through
86 3.4
to demonstrate
211 3.1
to explain
1.0
to mention
1.0

Surface Forms

walked someone through past participle
walking someone through present participle
walks someone through third person singular

Morphology

walk + someone + through

The meaning 'explain or guide step-by-step' is a metaphorical extension of the literal sense 'to walk (accompany) someone' combined with 'through' (from start to finish); a learner who knows the constituents can plausibly infer the idea of accompanying someone through a process. However, the transfer from physical accompaniment to verbal instruction is figurative rather than strictly compositional, so understanding is likely but not fully predictable without exposure.

Etymology

The phrasal verb walk someone through comes from the image of a person taking someone by the hand and walking them through a place, showing each step as they go. That's why it means 'to explain or help step by step'.