English Expressions and Idioms
Learn some of the most common English expressions and idioms to become fluent and understand real English in every kind of situation.
Click on the idioms below to find out what they mean…
What are idioms?
Definitions:
1. An expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements, as kick the bucket or hang one’s head, or from the general grammatical rules of a language, as the table round for the round table, and that is not a constituent of a larger expression of like characteristics.
Idioms are words, phrases or expressions which are commonly used in everyday conversation by native speakers of English. They are often metaphorical and make the language more colorful. People use them to express something more vividly and often more briefly.
They serve as an image or mental picture.
An idiom is a phrase or a fixed expression that has a figurative, or sometimes literal, meaning. An idiom’s figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. There are thousands of idioms, and they occur frequently in all languages. It is estimated that there are at least twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions in the English language.
English idioms are a group of words which have a meaning which isn’t obvious from looking at the individual words.
They have developed over time and so they might seem random to you. English idioms often rely on analogies and metaphors.
Because they’re used so often in everyday English, if you don’t know them, it’s almost impossible to understand the context.
Why Learn English Expressions and Idioms?
Does this sound familiar?
You took boring traditional classes.
You learned the tedious grammar, the endless rules, and hundreds of confusing exceptions.
You have a vocabulary that could rival an American student’s.
You even have a couple of certificates hanging proudly on your wall stating you are indeed proficient in English….
…so why is it you just can’t get it sometimes?
Well, what you learn from textbooks and what you learn from the real world are two totally different things when it comes to language learning.
What you really need is a stronger mastery of English idioms and expressions.
Learning common everyday English idioms will help you fit in with most situations whether it’s at a basketball game, over a beer, studying or going out on a hot date.
The key to understanding English idioms is never to look at them or read them in a literal sense – once you unlock the secrets of idiomatic English language then you’ll have cracked the code!