Every language has a different way to describe things, ideas or feelings. We use a combination of words that have a meaning that is not always clear to someone who is learning that language. Each culture has a different set of phrases that have special meaning in their country. In English, we use idioms and phrasal verbs to express ourselves. This idiomatic language is used frequently in our everyday communication so, it's very important that we understand what idioms are and how to use them.
The IELTS Speaking assessment criteria focuses on how well you can use idiomatic language from bands 7 and upwards. At band 7, you will see this statement for Lexical Resource:
• uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices
What's an idiom?
An idiom is a phrase or expression that generally has non-literal meaning - the meaning cannot be directly understood by reading each word. For example, if you are very happy because you got a band 8 in your Speaking test, you might say: "I was over the moon when I saw my results". If we look at the literal meaning of these words, we think about looking over the moon up in the sky beyond the stars! However, the idiomatic meaning of this phrase is to do with happiness - "I was very happy when I saw my result."
Idioms are used so often in a natural way by native speakers that they often go unnoticed, we are not even aware that we are using them because we have grown up listening to these phrases and expressions. However, when you are a language learner, you have to learn how to use them correctly, so they don't sound unnatural. You might have heard the term collocation, which is also assessed in the IELTS Speaking test. Collocation refers to words that often go together naturally and are generally used in that order when speaking. For example, you would never say food fast as the order is incorrect, you would always say fast food. Collocation is very important when using idiomatic language as the words you choose are just as important as the order they are spoken in.
What's a phrasal verb?
A phrasal verb is a compound verb where a verb is combined with an adverb or a preposition. When these phrasal verbs are made, they often have idiomatic meaning, and you cannot understand the meaning by reading what each word means. For example, the combination of the verb pick plus the preposition up - pick up - means lift. We can use this phrasal verb to ask someone to pick up something we dropped on the ground, or we can also use this expression to ask for a lift in a car - "I need a lift, can you please pick me up on the way to school?"
So, as you can see, we use idiomatic language all the time to express ourselves in a more colourful way where the combination of words we use have idiomatic meaning.
Let's look at some common idioms and phrasal verbs that are used in everyday communication.
Common everyday idioms
There are thousands of idioms and phrasal verbs used every day when we express ourselves. I will pick out (choose) a few that are used commonly in daily conversation.
Colourful Idioms | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
Out of the blue | Something that happened unexpectedly | Yesterday, out of the blue, he asked me to marry him! |
In the red | To owe money, to not have money | Sorry, I can't afford it, I'm in the red. |
Give someone the green light | To give permission | I was given the green light to start this new project |
A white lie | To tell a lie that is not very serious | I don't think you should get in trouble for telling a white lie. |
Green with envy | To be jealous/envious | She was green with envy when she saw my diamond ring. |
Student Idioms | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
Day and night | Continually working without stopping | I was studying day and night for my IELTS test. |
Drop out | To leave without finishing | She dropped out of the course because it was too hard. |
Learn by heart | To memorise | I learned all my idioms by heart. |
Pass with flying colours | To pass a test with a high grade | I really hope I pass with flying colours. |
Bookworm | Someone who reads a lot | When I was younger, I was a bookworm, I just loved reading. |
Childhood Idioms | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
Brought up | Raised/developed | I was brought up in the country. |
Child's play | Very easy to do | Learning how to play a guitar was child's play, I could do it easily. |
Like a kid in a candy store | Very excited about something | When I arrived in the city I was like a kid in a candy store, there was so much to see and do. |
To follow in someone's footsteps | To achieve the same things that someone else did | I followed in my mother's footsteps and became a teacher. |
To run in the family | Qualities that are similar in family members | We are all good at maths, it runs in the family. |
COVID Idioms | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
Under the weather | Feeling unwell | I'm feeling a bit under the weather. I hope I don't have COVID. |
As sick as a dog | Feeling very ill | I was as sick as a dog last night. |
On the mend | Recovering, getting better | My mother was very sick but now she's on the mend. |
Kick the bucket | To die | My father was so sick I thought he might kick the bucket |
To show promise | To indicate possible success | The new vaccine is showing promise. |
IELTS Idioms | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
Practice makes perfect | To continuously improve by practising | My teacher said that practice makes perfect, so I need to practise more. |
Break a leg | To wish someone good luck | I hope you do really well, break a leg! |
Driving me up the wall | Something that annoys you | Waiting for my results is really driving me up the wall. |
Better late than never | It's better to do something late than not to try it | I didn't know how to drive till I was 30, but better late than never. |
Blind as a bat | Can't see, bad eyesight | I'm as blind as a bat, I really need my reading glasses. |
Practice makes perfect!
We have only just scratched the surface (looked at something very briefly) as there are so many idioms related to daily life. Our advice to you is to listen to how native speakers communicate and the common idioms that they use. You will notice that they are using them as you may not understand exactly what they are saying. Don't be shy to ask them what an expression means, this is the best way to learn about language.
We mentioned that native speakers use idioms naturally, so be very careful not to overuse them and to make sure that the idiom matches the topic area you are speaking about. Also be careful not to use some that are overused, and sound forced. A quick internet search will produce hundreds of idioms. The best advice is to listen to native speakers by chatting to them or by watching English speaking movies and to copy phrases that have been used. Also learn your phrasal verbs so you know which prepositions go with certain verbs.
Idioms add colour to our conversation and help us to read between the lines (understand the hidden meaning). By learning more idioms and phrasal verbs, this will build your vocabulary and help to improve your lexical resource. It will then help to improve your band score and lead to test-day success. Break a leg!