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Idioms & Phrases appears in school exams and competitive exams like SSC and Bank PO English sections. Practising with exam-style questions improves accuracy and speed.

Idioms & Phrases

Usage intermediate hard

Common English idioms and their meanings — break the ice, once in a blue moon, hit the nail on the head.

Usage — Common choices, confusions and preposition errors.

Rules

1. An idiom is a fixed phrase whose meaning is not the literal meaning of its words: "break the ice" = start a conversation. 2. Idioms do not change form: "kick the bucket", not "kick a bucket". 3. Verb idioms follow their own verbs: "make up your mind", "take part in", "look forward to". 4. "look forward to" is followed by a gerund: I look forward to meeting you. 5. Some idioms are formal (in the long run), others informal (piece of cake). 6. Rewrite idioms in their correct tense/person without changing the words: he broke the ice, they are breaking the ice.

Explanation

Idioms carry meaning a literal translation cannot give, and they appear in reading and even in some exams. Learn them as whole chunks with an example, and match the register (formal vs informal) to the context.

हिंदी में

मुहावरे (idioms) ऐसे स्थिर वाक्यांश हैं जिनका अर्थ शब्दों के सीधे अर्थ से अलग होता है — जैसे "break the ice" = बातचीत शुरू करना। इन्हें पूरे वाक्यांश के रूप में याद करें।

Examples

He hit the nail on the head. — उसने ठीक बात पकड़ी।
We meet once in a blue moon. — हम कभी-कभार ही मिलते हैं।

Common Mistakes

{"mistake":"He kicked a bucket.","correction":"He kicked the bucket.","note":"Idioms are fixed — the article must not change."}
{"mistake":"I look forward to meet you.","correction":"I look forward to meeting you.","note":"\"look forward to\" is followed by a gerund."}

Practice Questions

Q1. Which idiom means "a hidden advantage in a bad event"?

a blessing in disguise
under the weather
once in a blue moon
a piece of cake

Answer: a blessing in disguise

💡 It describes a good outcome that was not obvious at first.

Q2. Use the idiom correctly: "The test was very easy." (use "piece of cake")

Answer: The test was a piece of cake.

💡 The idiom is used as a complement after "was".

Q3. "Give up" is a phrasal verb.

True
False

Answer: True

💡 Verb + particle makes a phrasal verb.

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Topic	Level	What it covers
Singular / Plural	beginner	Making nouns singular and plural correctly.
Countable / Uncountable Nouns	elementary	Nouns you can count vs nouns you cannot.
Much / Many	elementary	Much for uncountable, many for countable.
Few / Little	intermediate	Few for countable, little for uncountable — with or without "a".
Some / Any	elementary	Some in positives and offers; any in negatives and questions.
Each / Every	intermediate	Each singles out; every groups all together.