phrasal verb · informal

set someone straight

UK/sɛt ˈsʌmwʌn ˈstreɪt/US/sɛt ˈsʌmwən ˈstreɪt/SET someone STRAIGHT

speakingtask1task2

to correct someone's mistaken belief or to give someone the true facts

Examples

I had to set him straight about the date of the exam.

Let me set you straight: the meeting is on Friday, not Thursday.

Her teacher set her straight on the grammar points she had misunderstood.

Band 8 sentence

During the seminar the lecturer patiently set several students straight about common misconceptions in statistical inference.

Collocations

  • set someone straight about/on + noun
  • let me set you straight

Word family

set verbstraighten verb

Common mistakes

make someone straightset someone straight

set someone correctset someone straight / correct someone

Say it for a higher band

5correct6put someone right7+set someone straight

Synonyms

correct

put someone right

Easily confused

correct

The editor corrected several factual errors.

set right

They set right the faulty wiring.

Related words

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In set …

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