ADD SPICES TO YOUR ESSAY BY PUTTING IN SOME IDIOMS:

ADD SPICES TO YOUR ESSAY BY PUTTING IN SOME IDIOMS:

IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS:

1. To face the music (To take the punishment or scolding)

2. To live from hand to mouth (To live in hardship)

3. To sit on the fence (To take no sides in a debate or a quarrel)

4. To be in the same boat (To be in the same circumstances)

5. In hot water (In trouble)

6. Have green fingers (Good at gardening)

7. Burn the midnight oil (Study until late at night)

8. Once in a blue moon (Seldom)

9. At the eleventh hour (At the last minute)

10. Bear in mind (Remember)

DRILL 1: By using all of the 10 list of idioms above, try to come out with a short paragraph of a story. Be as creative as possible.

       Zayyid and Ziyyad were twin brothers. They came from poor family. Since their father had passed away, so they had to live with their step father. Their step father

had odd jobs and all of them lived from hand to mouth for a livelihood. Zayidi was their best friend and also was in same the boat. For Zaidi, since his father worked as a lorry driver, he saw his father once in a  blue moon only. Therefore, he joined both twins to search job for their petty cash during evening time. Zaiyidi, Zayyid and Ziyyad had geen fingers, hence, all of them spent their spare time after school doing some part time of gardening around the nearby mansion area.. However, his step mother was a fierce lady, if he was late to return home, he must be in a hot water. All of them were aware that  knowledge was important, so they sometimes had to burn the midnight oil due to studying at the eleventh hour. They always bear in  mind, that every difficulty would be an ease.

DRILL 2: Repeat the same for another 10 idioms, etc. until you get familiarize yourself with the idioms.

IMPLEMENTATION: Right away , use of not more than 4 idioms and not more than 4 phrasal verbs in your single essay.

Thank you!!

Regards,

Feel free to enquire me: isadora4004@gmail.com

PHRASAL VERBS AND IDIOMATIC EXPRESSION 1

Tips

a)  Read the situation given in a conversation or dialogue.

b)  Read the entire dialogue. Note the tone of the dialogue.

c)  Read the underlined phrases.

d)  Guess smartly the meaning from the context.

e)  Choose the most suitable answer from the options given.

Read the whole dialogue again. Check whether your substitutions make sense in the dialogue

1. To face the music (To take the punishment or scolding)

2. To live from hand to mouth (To live in hardship)

3. To sit on the fence (To take no sides in a debate or a quarrel)

4. To be in the same boat (To be in the same circumstances)

5. In hot water (In trouble)

6. Have green fingers (Good at gardening)

7. Burn the midnight oil (Study until late at night)

8. Once in a blue moon (Seldom)

9. At the eleventh hour (At the last minute)

10. Bear in mind (Remember)

11. Turn over a new leaf (Stop all bad habits)

12. To make a day of it (To spend the whole day)

13. Raining cats and dogs (Raining heavily)

14. Keep an eye (look after)

15. To make a clean breast (To admit)

16. Getting on my nerves (Making me annoyed/irritated)

17. Out of the blue (Unexpectedly)

18. Not my cup of tea (Not to my liking)

19. Eye catching (Attractive)

20. Around the corner (Coming soon)

21. By hook or by crook (By all means)

22. To keep one’s fingers crossed ( To hope for the best)

23. Keep your word (Keep your promise)

24. Where there’s a will, there’s a way (When you are determined, you will succeed)

25. Lend a hand (Help)

26. I am all ears ( I am listening)

27. A close shave ( A narrow escape)

28. Flying colours (Good grades)

29. To believe your ears (To believe what you hear)

30. Not kidding (Not joking)

31. Blow one’s trumpet (To Boast)

32. Down to earth (Humble/Honest)

33. Red handed (In the act)

34. In a twinkling of an eye (Very quickly)

35. Under the weather (Slightly ill)

36. Took to heart (Be upset by)

37. Bad blood (Feeling of strong dislike)

PHRASAL VERBS EXERCISE A

1. practice makes perfect ( You have to practise a lot, well practice makes perfect!)
1. they will be perfect without practising
2. they have to practise very hard to win

2. trounce them this time ( Our team need to trounce them this time,don’t give them a chance)

A. hit them this time       B. beat them this time

3. work as a team ( Don’t worry, as long as we work as a team, we’re fine)

A. they should play individually     B. the players need to cooperate to win

4. back by popular demand ( This type of shirt is back by popular demand.I’m thrilled.)

A. many people wanted the sale to be on   B.  popular people wanted the sale

5. rock bottom price ( All the items are going at rock bottom prices)

A.   the prices are under budget    B. very low prices

6. shop till I drop ( I’m so excited, I am going to shop till I drop)

A.  buy a lot of things   B. buy only the cheap items

7. have a speedy recovery ( We hope that you’ll have a speedy recover on the ills.)

A.  get well soon     B.  recover slowly

8. for the new term ( I’m feeling better and hope to be back for the new term)

       A.  a new year      B. a new semester

9. really work at it ( I know I have to really work at it when I come back to school.)

 A.   work very hard    B. hardly do any work

10. bright and beezy ( You’re looking bright and breezy. Are you happy?)

A.  cheerful    B.  moody

11. over the moon  ( I am over the moon, because I did well in my PMR exam.)

   A.  very high   B. very happy

12. paid off  ( You hard work has paid off then, thank God.)

 A. paid for you    B. disappointed you

13. taking in  ( I feel good taking in the fresh air)

A.  breathing    B.   getting

14. get back  ( They are supposed to get back to me tomorrow as to their progress)

A.  come       B. inform

15. hand in  ( We have to hand in the project by the end of the month)

 A.  distribute     B. pass up

16. just round the corner ( The examination is just round the corner, we have to study)

A. very soon   B. at the corner

17. at the eleventh hour ( Don’t do your revision at the eleventh hour.)
1. at eleven o’clock B. at midnight  C. at the last minute  D. at regular intervals

18 . pass with flying colours.

      ( We will pass with flying colours if we study hard and smart.)

   A.  fly with colours  B. receive good medals   C. get excellent results

18. for ages

( Nice meeting you here. It’s been ages since we last met)

1. short term  B.  a long time

   19 .  over the moon

         (You must have been over the moon once you get 10As, I tell you)

       A. very elated    B. very anxious     C. very annoyed

20. came up

(My little brother came up with the idea of having a barbeque last night)

A.  suggested    B. happened

21. made for each other.

  ( The bride and groom look beautiful because they are made for each other)

  A. steady pair    B. ideal pair

22. set off

 ( We set off early in the morning after having a  picnic at P.D.)

A.  arrived    B. left

23    dead beat

(  We were dead beat after the exhausted journey and slept soundly under the night sky near our tents.)

A. extremely flat /tired   B.  over slumbered

24. run down

(Madinah, why do you look so run down?)

A.  angry   B.  satisfied

25. called off

      (Well, the trip to Pulau Langkawi is called off at the last minute and it took me three hours to pack all my belongings)

A. cancelled     B. postphoned

26.. put them away

( That’s too bad. I guess you have to put them away in the closet)

A. assemble them   B. keep them

27. came across (As I was at the post office,  I came across an identity card near the stamp counter)

A.   saw      B. picked    C.   bought

28. hand over

( Did you hand over the identity card to the postmaster?)

A.  give    B. send    C. sell

29. in full cry ( Yes, the team has started practice in full cry before the final match.)

A.  in full time   B. in eager pursuit

30. easy meat ( Winning the finals will be easy meat to our seasoned players since they had enough practice)

A.  easy to defeat    B. easy to be defeated    C. easy catch.

author: isadora