English/Idiomatic Phrases
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| English Wikibook (edit) |
| General: Introduction - Grammar |
| Parts of speech: Nouns - Verbs - Adjectives - Adverbs - Pronouns - Conjunctions - Prepositions - Interjections |
| Parts of the sentence: Subjects - Predicates |
| Word functions: Subjects - Predicates - Direct Objects - Indirect Objects - Objects of the Preposition |
| Types of sentences: Simple Sentences - Complex Sentences |
| Types of Phrases: Adjective - Adverb - Noun |
| Types of Clauses: Adjective - Adverb - Noun |
| Other English topics: Gerunds - Idiomatic Phrases - Spelling - Vocabulary - Punctuation - Syntax - Appositives - Phonics - Pronunciation |
What is an idiomatic phrase?
An idiomatic phrase is a group of words that do not mean what they appear to mean.
Examples:
- Cross my mind - this means to remember e.g. It never crossed my mind to buy any milk
- Take to heart - this means to "take it seriously or personally"
- Give a hand - this means to help e.g. Shall I give you a hand or are you OK?
- Turn over a new leaf - this means to "start over from scratch and become a better person"
- Fed up - this means to be irritated or bored e.g. I'm fed up with the cold weather
- Raining cats and dogs - this means to rain a lot e.g. I stayed at home because it was raining cats and dogs
- At arms length - this means t very near