How to use idioms and phrases in the IELTS speaking test

How to use idioms and phrases in the IELTS Speaking test? It is a question that many IELTS test takers have in their mind. Every language has a different way to describe things, ideas or feelings. We use a combination of words that have a meaning that is not always clear to someone who is learning that language. Each culture has a different set of phrases that have special meaning in their country. In English, the native speakers use idioms and phrasal verbs to express ourselves. This idiomatic language is used frequently in our everyday communication so, it’s very important that we understand what idioms are and how to use them.

The IELTS Speaking assessment criteria focuses on how well you can use idiomatic language from bands 7 and upwards. The band descriptor in the seven bands score explains the requirement of idioms an phrases as follows: Candidate ‘uses some less common and idiomatic vocabulary and shows some awareness of style and collocation, with some inappropriate choices‘.

What’s an idiom?

An idiom is a phrase or expression that generally has non-literal meaning. which means that the meaning cannot be directly understood by reading each word. For example, if you are very happy because you got a band 8 in your Speaking test, you might say: “I was over the moon when I saw my results”. If we look at the literal meaning of these words, we think about looking over the moon up in the sky beyond the stars! However, the idiomatic meaning of this phrase is to do with happiness – “I was very happy when I saw my result.”

Idioms are used so often in a natural way by native speakers that they often go unnoticed, we are not even aware that we are using them because we have grown up listening to these phrases and expressions. However, when you are a language learner, you have to learn how to use them correctly, so they don’t sound unnatural. You might have heard the term collocation, which is also assessed in the IELTS Speaking test. Collocation refers to words that often go together naturally and are generally used in that order when speaking. For example, you would never say food fast as the order is incorrect, you would always say fast food. Collocation is very important when using idiomatic language as the words you choose are just as important as the order they are spoken in.

What’s a phrasal verb?

A phrasal verb is a compound verb where a verb is combined with an adverb or a preposition. When these phrasal verbs are made, they often have idiomatic meaning, and you cannot understand the meaning by reading what each word means. For example, the combination of the verb pick plus the preposition up – pick up – means lift. We can use this phrasal verb to ask someone to pick up something we dropped on the ground, or we can also use this expression to ask for a lift in a car – “I need a lift, can you please pick me up on the way to school?”

So, as you can see, we use idiomatic language all the time to express ourselves in a more colourful way where the combination of words we use have idiomatic meaning.

Let’s look at some common idioms and phrasal verbs that are used in everyday communication.

These English idioms are extremely common in everyday conversation in the United States. You will hear them in movies and TV shows and can use them to make your English sound more like that of a native speaker. 

Common English idioms & expressions

These English idioms are used quite regularly in the United States. You may not hear them every day, but they will be very familiar to any native English speaker. You can be confident using any of them when the context is appropriate.

Familiar English idioms & proverbs

These English idioms and proverbs are familiar and easily understood by native English speakers, but they are not usually used in everyday conversation. If you haven’t mastered the more frequent idioms yet, they are a better place to start, but if you’re already familiar with those expressions, the idioms below will further spice up your English.