establish truth

USAGE SUMMARY

"establish truth" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
You can use it when you are referring to proving or confirming a fact. For example, "The lawyer used the evidence to establish truth of the defendant's innocence."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

12 human-written examples

In the mess of life, whether in the courtroom or the classroom, efforts are made all the time to establish truth objectively; sometimes they fail, sometimes they succeed.

The New York Times - Arts

The truth about a book so obsessively concerned with the inability of words to establish truth is, as ever, somewhere in between.

The Guardian - Books

Masters himself believed that "science, by itself, has no moral dimension, but it does seek to establish truth, and upon this truth morality can be built" - and he and Johnson set out to find the truth.

The Guardian

By some accounts, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein overhauled — or at least refined — his theory that language was used to establish truth, to inform, after the Italian economist Piero Sraffa responded to his theory with a single gesture: fingers brushing the chin, indicating "I don't give a damn," the classic antiauthority brushoff.

The New York Times

Even if you could find four people who agreed that the earth is flat, that the moon is made of green cheese, that smoking cigarettes poses no health risks, or that politicians are never corrupt, such agreements do not establish truth".

The Guardian - Opinion

According to Averroes, the methods of philosophy are uniquely suited to establish truth (Taylor 2000).

SEP

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

46 human-written examples

Moon man: What Galileo saw Adam Gopnik | New Yorker | 4 February 2013 Great scientists establish truths that will outlast them by centuries.

BBC

They want declarative statements when there is an established truth.

The New York Times

And the debunking by health officials does the job of stating an established truth.

The New York Times

The trick, of course, is to determine those facts, to identify the established truth.

The New York Times

And the public has no faith in the House of Commons a noisy, jeering pit of partisan barracking, further undermined by the parliamentary-expenses scandals as a forum for establishing truth.

The Economist

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When using "establish truth", ensure you have credible evidence or reasoning to support the claim you are making. Avoid using it when merely presenting an opinion.

Common error

Avoid using "establish truth" when the situation involves subjective interpretation or lacks definitive proof. Instead, use phrases like "suggest" or "indicate" to acknowledge uncertainty.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "establish truth" functions primarily as a verb phrase. It describes the action of confirming, proving, or demonstrating the veracity of something. Ludwig examples demonstrate its usage in both academic and journalistic contexts.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

News & Media

50%

Science

40%

Encyclopedias

10%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Wiki

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "establish truth" is a grammatically sound and usable verb phrase, as affirmed by Ludwig. While its frequency is uncommon, it appears across diverse contexts such as news, science and encyclopedias. It denotes the action of proving or confirming a fact. When using the phrase, it's vital to ensure sufficient evidence supports the claim and to avoid overstated certainty. Several alternative phrases exist, including "ascertain the truth" and "verify the truth".

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

ascertain the truth

Focuses more on the process of finding out the truth, rather than the act of making it known or accepted.

determine the truth

Emphasizes the act of deciding what is true after investigation or consideration.

verify the truth

Highlights the confirmation of something already believed to be true.

prove the truth

Stresses the act of demonstrating the truth with evidence.

confirm the veracity

Uses a more formal word ("veracity") for truth, indicating a higher register.

validate the truth

Suggests making the truth officially recognized or accepted.

substantiate the truth

Focuses on providing evidence to support the truth claim.

demonstrate the truth

Highlights the act of showing the truth clearly and convincingly.

reveal the truth

Emphasizes the uncovering of the truth, often from a hidden state.

find out the truth

Focuses on the exploratory aspect of discovering the truth.

FAQs

How can I use "establish truth" in a sentence?

You can use "establish truth" to describe the process of proving something to be true, as in "The investigation aimed to "establish truth" about the allegations".

What's a more formal alternative to "establish truth"?

A more formal alternative to "establish truth" is to "ascertain the truth" or "verify the truth", which are often used in legal or academic contexts.

Which is correct, "establish truth" or "establish a truth"?

"Establish truth" is generally used to refer to establishing the overall truth of a matter. "Establish a truth" might be used when referring to establishing a specific fact or a particular aspect of the truth.

What is the difference between "establish truth" and "discover truth"?

"Establish truth" implies proving or confirming something to be true, whereas "discover truth" suggests finding something that was previously unknown. Use "establish truth" when solidifying a claim and "discover truth" when uncovering hidden facts.