English Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions

Posted By EnglishGoes On 04 Apr 2009. Under Vocabulary  Tags: , ,   

What is an idiom?
An idiom is a group of words with a special meaning of its own that is not clear from the meanings of the individual words. Idioms are used extensively in American business and in international settings where business is conducted in English. When you don’t understand idioms, you can feel left out of a conversation.

In this page of the site, we offer all the most common idioms and idiomatic expressions to assist you in communicating more effectively by give you an understanding of the meaning, use of the idioms so they will be part of your vocabulary.

Let’s start with “Essential Idioms in English”:

Elementary English Idioms lessons:(1-13)

Lesson one

  1. Get in/ get on: to enter or to board on a vehicle; “get in” used for car, “get on” used for all other vehicles.
      Example:

    • It’s easiest to get in a car from the driver’s side. The door on the other side doesn’t work well
    • I always get on the bus to work at 55th street.
  2. Get out of/ get off: to leave or descend from a vehicle; get out of used for car, get off used for all other vehicles.
      Example:

    • why don’t we stop and get out of the car for a while?
    • Helen got off the train at Sunway Lagoon terminal.
  3. Put on: to place on oneself (usually said of clothes)
      Example:

    • Mary put on her coat and left the room.
    • Put your hat on before you leave the house.
  4. Call up: to telephone ( also: to give someone a call)
      Example:

    • I forgot to call up Mr. Jones yesterday. I’d better call him now.
    • Call me up tomorrow, Jane. We’ll arrange a time to have lunch together.
    • I promise to give you a call as soon as I arrive in New York.
  5. Take off: to remove ( usually said of clothes)
      Example:

    • John took off his jacket as he entered the office.
    • Take your sweater off. The room is very warm.
  6. Turn on: to start or cause to function (also: to switch on)
      Example:

    • Please turn on the light, it’s too dark in here.
    • Do you know who turned the airconditioning on?
  7. Turn off: to cause or to stop functioning (also: to switch off, to shut off)
      Example:

    • Please turn off the light when you leave the room.
    • Are you really listening to the radio, or should I turn it off?
  8. Right away: very soon, immediately (also at once)
      Example:

    • Dad says that dinner will be ready right away, so we’d better wash our hands and set the table.
    • Tell Will to come to my office right away. I must see him immediately.
    • Stop playing that loud music at once!
  9. Pick up: to lift from the floor, table, etc. with one’s fingers
      Example:

    • Harry picked up the newspaper that was on the front doorstep.
    • “Tom, pick your toy up or someone will fall over it.”
  10. Sooner or later: eventually, after a period of time
      Example:

    • If you study English seriously, sooner or later you’ll become fluent.
    • I’m too tired to do my homework now. I’m sure I’ll do it sooner or later.
  11. Get up: to arise, to rise from bed; to make someone arise
      Example:

    • Carla gets up at seven o’clock every morning.
    • At what time should we get the children up tomorrow?
  12. At first: in the beginning, originally
      Example:

    • At first English was difficult for him, but later he made great progress.
    • I thought at first that is was Sheila calling, but then I realized that it was Betty.

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