show around

take someone on a tour of a place

What does "show sb around" mean?

To show someone around means to guide them through a place, pointing out important things as you go. It usually happens when someone is new to a place — like a new employee at an office, a visitor at a museum, or a buyer looking at a house. The person doing the showing acts as a guide, walking the other person from room to room or area to area and explaining what they see. It is a friendly, helpful action, and you will often hear it in offers like 'Let me show you around' or 'Would you like me to show you around?'. The phrasal verb is neutral in tone and works equally well in casual and professional situations.

Examples

Let me show you around — we've just renovated the whole building.
When I started the job, my manager showed me around the office and introduced me to the team.
Would you like someone to show you around the campus before you decide?

How to use it

show + person + around + place

This is the core pattern, where the person being guided comes between 'show' and 'around', and the place follows 'around'.

My colleague showed the new recruits around the building on their first day.

show + pronoun + around

When the person is a pronoun, it always goes between 'show' and 'around' — this is the most common spoken form.

The estate agent offered to show us around before we made a decision.

show + person + around (place omitted)

The place can be left out when it is already clear from context, which is very common in offers and greetings.

Welcome to the campus — I'd be happy to show you around.

let / would like + object + to show + person + around

This verb often appears in offers using 'let me' or 'would you like me to', especially when welcoming someone new.

Would you like me to show you around before the meeting starts?

be shown around + place (passive)

The passive form is natural when the focus is on the person being guided rather than the guide.

The visiting team were shown around the factory by the operations manager.

Common Collocations

show you around the officeshow them around the houseshow a visitor aroundshow the new staff aroundshow someone around the cityshow a client around

Common Mistakes

Wrong word order with pronouns

The person being guided must go between 'show' and 'around', not after 'around'. This is especially important with pronouns like 'me', 'you', and 'them'.

✗ She offered to show around me the office.

✓ She offered to show me around the office.

Confusing 'show around' with 'look around'

'Show someone around' means one person guides another through a place. 'Look around' means the visitor explores a place by themselves — there is no guide involved.

✗ I looked around the new employee on her first day.

✓ I showed the new employee around on her first day.

Usage

This phrasal verb is neutral and works in both casual and professional settings. It is very common in offers using 'let me' or 'would you like me to', especially on someone's first day at work or when hosting guests.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I always need to mention the place?

No — you can leave the place out when it is obvious from the situation. For example, if you are already standing in the office, you can simply say 'Let me show you around' without naming the place. This is actually very common in natural conversation.

Does 'show around' always need two people — a guide and a visitor?

Yes, this phrasal verb always requires someone doing the guiding and someone being guided. If a person is exploring a place alone without a guide, you would use 'look around' instead — for example, 'I looked around the museum by myself'.

Can I use 'show around' in a work or professional situation?

Absolutely — it is very common in professional settings such as welcoming a new employee, hosting a client, or conducting a property viewing. It works just as well in formal situations as in casual ones.

What kinds of places can I use 'show around' with?

Almost any physical space works — offices, schools, museums, houses, campuses, factories, cities, and neighbourhoods are all common. The place follows 'around' at the end of the sentence, for example 'show you around the campus' or 'show them around the city'.

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