Idioms are figurative expressions which make learning a language fun and interesting. All languages have their own idioms. There are thousands of idioms in English. This quiz tests your knowledge of idioms related to colours.
Choose from the list of idioms to complete the sentences:
This cartoon is based on the phrasal verb turn down.
Some verbs are made up of two parts; a verb and a particle:
Make + up -...are made up...
Grow + up
He is growing up into a smart young boy.
The particle often gives the verb a new meaning:
Take + in
It's difficult to take in so much information.
It's difficult to remember/absorb so much information.
A phrasal verb is a verb made up of a verb plus one or more particles (e.g. of, in, up) that modify or change its meaning. For example, the phrasal verb “give up” means “stop doing”, which is different from the meaning of the verb “give” when it stands alone. Phrasal verbs are some of the most common verbs used in everyday English. Here is an exercise using phrasal verbs for travel situations.
First match these phrasal verbs to their meanings:
This cartoon is based on the word dawn.
Dawn: Dawn (noun) is the time early in the morning when the sun first appears in the sky.
"She woke up at dawn."
Dawn on somebody: If something dawns on you, you realise it for the first time. You suddenly understand something after not understanding it.
Look at the context of each sentence and choose the correct definition. Good luck!
Get along/get on have a good relationship.
Take after resemble someone in your family.
Fall out argue with someone and never speak to him/her again.
Run in the family a genetic characteristic that’s common in a family.
This month’s cartoon is based on the popular phrase or expression ‘a stone’s throw’.
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid substances, or matter, that make up the Earth. e.g. rocks and stones.
We've put together a small set of common words, phrases and expressions which we think will come in handy for those who follow fashion…
For those of you who aren’t that interested, we still hope this will help you have a conversation about the subject. You never know enough vocabulary, right?
Take a look at this email sent by a manager to his employees. Pay attention to the orange idioms which all relate to the body. Do you know what they mean?
Note: The tone of this email is informal for a business correspondence. I have used a lot more idioms than you would expect to find in an email. I would not recommend using so many in real-life!
Colleagues,
When something happens once in a blue moon, it very rarely happens.
"Since my daughter was born, I only go out with my friends once in a blue moon."
"My brother is so good at chess I only beat him once in a blue moon."
When you say that someone is living on another planet, you are saying either they do not notice what is happening around them or they are not realistic.