Example: I gave her the benefit of the doubt because she seemed honest.
Definition
"To give someone the benefit of the doubt" means to choose to believe or trust someone’s explanation or behavior despite uncertainty or lack of proof, typically because you want to be fair or assume good intentions.
Translations
dar a alguien el beneficio de la duda
iemand het voordeel van de twijfel geven
donar a algú el benefici del dubte
accorder le bénéfice du doute
jemandem den Vorteil des Zweifels geben
Etymology
The phrase "to give someone the benefit of the doubt" originates from legal terminology where 'benefit' refers to an advantage or favor, and 'doubt' refers to uncertainty about guilt. It evolved into everyday language to mean assuming the best about someone when facts are unclear. Did you know? This expression encourages fairness by preferring trust over suspicion.
Learn to use this expression actively
"To give someone the benefit of the doubt" appears in the Vocaplus list "English - General - Idioms and Proverbs - (C2) - set 1", containing 106 commonly used expressions.
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