How to Use the 15 Most Common English Idioms
oh hi everybody welcome back to our
weekly live stream my name is Alisha and
today we’re going to talk about 15 of
the most common English idioms 15 of the
most common that doesn’t mean they are
the top but it means they are some of
the top English idioms as you join
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so as I said today’s topic is 15 of the
most common English idioms for a little
bit of background about this I chose
these from a study I believe I can’t
remember the university off the top of
my head I want to say Oklahoma there’s
this there is a study I was reading
about the moats the highest frequency
which means the most often used idioms
in American English so again as always
for me this is American English these
are very common idiomatic expressions
which means they kind of have a meaning
that might not be immediately
understandable so that means these words
don’t necessarily they don’t always have
exactly the meaning like the basic
meaning of the words so we’re going to
talk about 15 very common ones I hope
that everybody can find something of use
for them so we are four minutes in it is
time to get started I’m going to share
the video and then I’m going to begin I
have made five or rather three groups of
five idioms each so let’s take a look
one by one all right cool I have shared
the video I’m ready to go let’s get
started with this first one up here to
make sure is our first idiomatic
expression I’m going to slow down my
rate of speech now too so to make sure
to make sure means to do something so
there are no doubts about a situation to
do something so there are no doubts
so doubts means like there’s no worries
you have about a situation there are no
questions that you have about a
situation you don’t think something
might be wrong or there might be a
problem to make sure of something is a
common way to use this in an example
sentence I want to make sure you
understand this idiom
so I want as I said I want to make sure
make sure you’ll often hear like
presenters and like politicians use this
word in speeches we need to make sure
something something something so I want
to make sure you understand this idiom
for example I want to make sure you
understand so again make sure means I
want to do something so there are no
doubt so I want to in this case teach or
explain so that there are no questions
no doubts about something so this is
make sure make sure a nice one to lead
off with from today and I’ll try to
check your questions live throughout the
chat if you want to make example
sentences with these two please please
please feel free I will again I was
trying to catch as many as I can
let’s go on then to the second one for
today deal with deal with you’ll notice
maybe it’s really hard to see I’m going
to read what’s on the board here there
are several so several means many
multiple there are many different ways
to use deal with there are many
different senses of this idiomatic
expression so let’s take a look and I’ll
share a couple example sentences about
this so first to deal with something to
deal with something means to do
something about a problem to do
something about a problem or about a
challenge like I don’t want to deal with
this right now or can you please deal
with this later so that means to do
something usually to fix a problem so to
deal with has this meaning second it can
mean to make business
to make business agreements you’ll know
that it’s sense number two sense or
meaning number two when there’s usually
like another person or another company
or another organization after this verb
so for example I don’t want to deal with
that company anymore I don’t want to
deal with that company means I don’t
want to make business agreements or I
don’t want to do business with that
company anymore
so it can have this one third is to be
about a topic to be about a topic so I’m
going to write an example sentence about
number three here for example so again
number three since number three her
presentation her presentation this is
past tense then her presentation dealt
with the economy so her presentation
dealt with means her presentation was
about the economy her presentation was
about the economy so deal with in past
tense becomes dealt dealt
so de alt is the past tense form of deal
dealt her presentation dealt with is the
same as her presentation was about the
economy it just sounds like a little bit
more of a I guess a closer word so maybe
if you want to talk about someone that
you’re close to or if you just want to
have a more casual discussion about a
topic you might choose to use deal with
instead of was about so her presentation
dealt with the economy another sense the
last one here is to try to accept
something challenging to try to accept
something challenging usually something
that is emotionally challenging so
something that is difficult or something
that makes you sad or angry or upset to
accept that situation we use deal with
in cases like these two for example I’ll
write one more I don’t want to
I don’t want to deal with this don’t
want to deal with this so I don’t want
to deal with this is like maybe you have
a really hard situation at home or like
at school or at work and you don’t want
to accept the situation or you don’t
want to try to accept the situation so
deal with sounds like it’s again a
little bit more casual so unless unless
formal word but it means to accept okay
some examples are coming in Henry says
deal with it yes which means handle it
take care of it good hmm
I saw a different one Oh Andrew said I
used to deal with that company so when
you use that used to pattern you’re used
to grammar you don’t need to change the
verb to past tense
I used to infinitive form I used to deal
with that company is correct
okey dokey gertrudis says I can deal
with your bad mood good nice nice nice
on Facebook uh everyone is saying hello
I don’t see oh I don’t want to deal with
this something the past I don’t want to
deal with this close one boring okay
let’s go to the next one
the next one is at all at all uh oh I
spoke about this a couple of weeks ago I
think at all means in any way in any way
so an example of this is this is true I
can’t speak I can’t speak Vietnamese at
all I can’t speak Vietnamese at fall so
we use at all as an emphasis usually at
the end of something so in this case I
can’t speak Vietnamese is a simple fact
yeah I can’t in my case I can’t speak
Vietnamese I can’t speak Vietnamese at
all
that means totally not possible 100% in
any way so you often see it used with
negative situations like negative
expressions I can’t do this or I don’t
know that I don’t know anything at all I
can’t do this thing at all that means
that’s totally not possible
so at all is commonly used at the end of
sentences in this way okay on to the
next one is go ahead go ahead there are
two senses for go ahead first means
continue to continue something like oh
go ahead it’s fine go ahead with your
presentation you’ll hear their
preposition with following it in that
case so this one go ahead with your
presentation so in this case in sense
one you’ll see with after go ahead so go
ahead with something we usually use this
again because it means continue when
someone for example like this live
stream I’m like teaching about this
expression there’s an interruption and
someone says no go ahead
go ahead with your lesson so something
was happening before maybe there is an
interruption or a question and then we
want to ask the person to continue we
can use go ahead go ahead sounds less
formal than continue so please go ahead
with your presentation it means the same
thing as please continue with your
presentation though with continue you
don’t have to use with please continue
your presentation is also okay so go
ahead with your presentation don’t
forget it if you’re gonna use go ahead
second sense though is to go before
someone else so you can use this if
you’re waiting in line so imagine my two
markers I’m far away imagine hi two
markers are two people so if this person
is waiting but they’re taking a long
time like at the supermarket they might
say to this person oh go ahead which
means to go before me please go ahead so
that’s like please like take my place go
before me so this is a physical sense
please go ahead of me please go in front
of me
so this one is conceptual I please
continue that’s the new
all right last one in this group is in
other words in other words but in speech
it sounds usually it usually sounds like
in other words in other words so in
other words we use this to mean another
way to say that is another way to say
that is so this one maybe you can see
how how it actually is quite a direct
meaning of this expression in other
words so to say what I said in another
wave in other words so for example we’re
stuck in traffic
in other words we’re going to be late
we’re going to be like so you phrase it
in one way you say one expression we’re
stuck in traffic
in other words meaning another way to
say that is we’re going to be late so in
other words means another way to say
that all right some expressions are
coming in from you I’m gonna go ahead
okay what go ahead
someone said go ahead Alicia we are
learning with you good nice example
sentence go ahead with your presentation
good good good
Henry said please go ahead I’m not quite
ready nice example is everybody
painting on Facebook said so go ahead we
can’t use when I missed your message
ping we can’t use when being where did
you go when someone didn’t can you
scroll up on that Facebook I lost her
message or her message mmm it was a good
one
we can’t use it when where did your
message go when we’re following someone
else it was a good question take it okay
I’ll try to find it when you were with
someone else I answer that question I
missed it um okay we’ll try to come back
to that in a second I’m looking for your
message but for now we will take a quick
break and then we will come back to part
two so if you missed it earlier this is
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continue to part 2 part 2 for today so
if you are just joining today’s lesson
is about 15 of the most common English
idioms very common I hope very very
useful in many different situations so
let’s continue to part two and if you
have not already please make sure to
like and share this video so that other
people can find our lesson for today
alright let’s carry on to our Chi which
is over here figure out to figure out is
our next idiom I’ll go to this side I
guess to figure out so to figure out
means to learn or discover after
research so research is like you’re
checking books or you’re looking for
information so we use figure out when we
finally find the answer to something we
finally solve a puzzle
there’s something we now know the answer
to so to discover or to learn something
after research so figure out is used
when we solve a puzzle so some examples
and figure out I finally figured out how
to fix my computer so I’ll write it here
I finally figured out so figured out
this is past tense so it takes the
regular edy ending I finally figured out
how to fix my computer so you’ll often
see figure out paired with so that means
together with a word like finally I
finally figured out how to fix my
so this finally emphasizes it took me a
long time maybe I had a virus a computer
virus or there was some really strange
problem it took me a few days or a few
weeks but I finally I at last after lots
and lots of trying figured out how to
fix my computer so to figure out means
discovering after research this is a key
point here after research after a long
after a long time already on to the next
one the next one so far I talked about
this in a grammar lesson recently I used
it in an example sentence so let’s
review so far means until the present
point in time until the present point so
the present point in time is now until
the present point in time so you’ll see
so far used together usually with
another point in time or maybe like a
length of time so in example mmm like so
far this year so far this year my
company my company has made $100,000
it’s only what January 1560 great ok so
so far this year so far means until the
present point in time starting at the
beginning of the year so that means this
year is like the beginning point for
this this situation so from that point
in time in this case from the beginning
of 2020 until the present until now my
company has made $100,000 so another
point about so far is you’ll often see
it with this present perfect tense so
far this year my company has made
$100,000 or so far in this live stream
maybe a thousand people have commented
or whatever
so so far plus some kind of point in
time or some length of time is used here
it means up until the present point from
some other points so we usually have
this here there there are some cases
where you may not see so far all right
some examples are coming in some spam is
coming in to uh some examples over on
Facebook uh hello everybody everyone is
saying hello I don’t see some examples
there’s lots of spam on YouTube at the
moment so I’ll continue on to the next
one and come back let’s go to the next
one make sense to make sense for
something to make sense means it has a
clear meaning it has a clear meaning so
you’ll often see make sense used in the
negative
for example this recipe doesn’t make
sense this recipe doesn’t make sense
so something is hard to understand or
it’s unclear so makes sense is here and
as I said you’ll often see it with a
negative that the recipe does not make
sense means this recipe does not have a
clear meaning or in like a meeting in a
business meeting you might say that
doesn’t make sense like this data
doesn’t make sense or that idea doesn’t
make sense that means it doesn’t have a
clear meaning or like we can’t
understand it it’s not it doesn’t match
the situation so to make sense to make
sense someone writes makes sense to me
whew good good good someone on facebook
says comments are flying yes I can’t
catch up the comments are all over the
place today okay so other ones I don’t
see any make sense one so I’ll continue
on to the next one the next one is keep
in mind to keep in mind I use this all
watch in live streams and in lessons to
keep in mind means to consider so a
helpful hopefully a helpful visual
something to remember is keep so to keep
means like to hold yeah
your mind is your brain your head yeah
so to keep something in your mind is
like to hold an idea in your head so
when I say please keep in mind or
keeping in mind bla bla bla
that means please hold this in your mind
as you do this thing or please consider
this as you do this thing so I use this
a lot in lesson so keep in mind
something something about like grammar
points so a good example for today is
like please keep in mind please keep in
mind I can’t catch all your comments so
if you are sad or didn’t see your
comment please keep in mind I can’t
catch all your comments so please hold
this idea in your mind so please
consider that I can’t catch all your
comments alive okay let’s see some
questions are coming in makes sense when
something is reasonable for you you
could say it makes sense yes nice
example of pasta Kim
whatever you say makes sense to me good
good good
some others Nora says please repeat that
sentence it didn’t quite make sense it
didn’t quite make sense so maybe if you
can’t catch something if you didn’t hear
something you can say repeat the
sentence when you use makes sense it’s
like the concept was hard to understand
not the words so those are slight those
are actually very different ideas very
different issues so makes sense is about
a concept or perhaps about grammar like
the grammar doesn’t make sense for
example some examples of keep in mind so
keep in mind not everything can go your
way nice one from Henry Sharif says keep
in mind we are invited to a pool party
tomorrow sounds good mm others others
others others people saying hello who a
dark one from rune says keep in mind
that we all die one day oh my gosh okay
grammatically correct somewhat dark
let’s move on
go to the last one we just come up with
come up with to come up with something
means to produce or to create to produce
or to create something in response to a
challenge or a problem so like you are
at work or you’re at school you have a
homework assignment or a task your
responsibility is to create an idea so
when you create something new or you
produce something new you can say you
can use come up with to describe that
process so an example of this our team
came up with some great ideas our team
came up with some great ideas so points
here great ideas all right again we use
with as I said before our noun phrase
here to come up with an idea to come up
with a solution to come up with
something some kind of now needs to go
there and past tense came up with so
come up with me comes came up with in
past tense we if we want to use it in
present present perfect tense we could
say our team has come up with some great
ideas this year for example so to come
up with a solution or to come up with
something new in response to a challenge
or in response to an issue all right
part two that’s it for part two I have
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let’s go to the last part the last part
last one or the last group starts with
work out work out oh we have super chats
hello thanks very much Hector that’s
awesome on YouTube many thanks cool
appreciate it let’s go to the last one
then we begin with work out to work out
there are two senses for this for this
idiom we have first to exercise to
exercise so we commonly we very commonly
use work out instead of exercise like I
need to work out that means I need to
exercise so that’s a very common use of
this however number two I’ll slow down
again
number two sense to hear is to solve to
solve something through a process so
this is different from figure out like
to figure something out means to
research something to work out something
imagine like you have um you have a
complicated problem and everything is
like a mess together like string kind of
and you have to one by one like solve
each little problem until the whole
problem is finished we would use work
out to describe that situation to work
out you can use it any negative as well
as in the plan didn’t work out so that
means like something we didn’t solve or
we didn’t resolve the situation did not
happen as planned so it didn’t work out
it’s like we weren’t able to solve this
problem or this thing did not happen
as we planned so to work something out
is like to solve an issue or to have
something go as planned okay on to the
next one get back to to get back to has
a couple senses but they both have the
ones I’m going to introduce have the
feeling of returning one is physical to
return to a place to return to a place
so I need to get back to the office for
example I need to get back to the office
means I need to return to the office I
need to get back to the office so don’t
forget this too I often see in comments
on the YouTube comments in facebook
comments this too gets forgotten many
people forget to I need to get back to
the office use this too so you’re
talking about a location yeah you’re
moving to a location you’re returning to
a location so don’t forget your
preposition here to there the second one
is to return a message to return
correspondence to return communication
like on the phone maybe you pick up the
phone but you’re busy you can say ah can
I get back to you later
can I get back to you later it’s often
phrased as a question can I get back to
you later
so again that’s question mark so again
don’t forget your preposition in this
case as well get back to you yes it’s
true you’re not moving but we do we keep
that preposition there let me get back
to you later or can he get back to you
later can she get back to you later
that means can he or she return your
message later so there are two senses we
know which one it is depending on the
context okay let’s go to the last three
because time is running out quickly and
actually these I chose I wanted to
include these because you often ask me
about them
so in time and on time the difference
between in time and on time is perhaps a
little bit challenging too
damn let’s look at them individually
first to be in time for something to be
in time for a meeting to be in time for
some noun phrase means to be early
enough for something to be early this is
a key point a key difference between on
time for something so early is as a key
things like please keep this in your
mind as we practiced earlier so to be in
time for something like is often used in
the negative I wasn’t in time for the
office lunch I wasn’t in time for the
office lunch or I didn’t arrive in time
for the office lunch in time for again
don’t forget your prepositions
I didn’t arrive in time for the office
lunch means I did not arrive early
enough for the office lunch so I was
late in other words let’s compare this
then to on time on time to be on time
for something means to do something or
to arrive somewhere at the appointed
time at the appointed time so arriving
somewhere or submitting something at the
appointed time so this does not have the
meaning of early that we see within time
to do something on time needs to do
something at the planned time so for
example I’m on time for the meeting I’m
on time for the meeting that means I
arrived at the appointed time at the
planned time I’m on time or the meeting
so here’s the expression again my
preposition is for I’m on time for the
meeting so please consider please keep
in mind these are very different in time
and on time so there are some cases
where both are grammatically correct but
they communicate different ideas like
for example I’m in time for the meeting
means I have arrived early
enough to attend the meeting that’s also
correct so you need to consider you need
to keep in mind what you want to say all
right on to the last one to take off
which has three senses oh my gosh so the
last one to take off has three senses
three meanings first is to remove like
removing clothes so take off your jacket
take off your hat please take off your
shoes so we follow take off with the
item we are removing take off your socks
whatever to take off second sense is to
leave the ground so this is used for
aircraft aircraft means things that fly
well mechanical things that fly so
numbers aircraft is like airplanes
helicopters jets so to take off refers
to this motion so that moment when the
aircraft when the airplane leaves the
ground so let’s watch the airplane take
off that means the moment it leaves the
ground last point though is number three
maybe the one that you will hear most
often in meetings especially I would say
in business situations it is to succeed
to succeed like a new idea for a new
idea to take off means for a new idea to
succeed often very quickly so for
example our new product took off
immediately our new product past tense
took off immediately
so immediately means right away or very
very fast after starting our new product
took off
sorry hard to see took off past tense of
take off so that means it’s succeeded
right away it succeeded very quickly our
new product took off immediately so
there are three different senses of this
word oh right
whew that is everything so yes today I
talked about 15 of the most common
English idioms yes but as we talked
about many of these have multiple uses
so I hope that you found some
new today I’ll try to do some more idiom
lessons in the future as well but if you
have any questions or comments or
whatever please send them in the
comments on youtube or on Facebook I do
check after the lesson so send along
whatever thoughts you have there but
that’s it for today I’ll step off screen
for a second so you can take a
screenshot and then be done so I have to
finish there but thanks for all of your
questions and comments is fantastic next
week we will be back as always next week
January 23rd oh my gosh it’s already at
the end of the month I’m going to talk
about a high-frequency phrasal verb so
you often request phrasal verbs lessons
this week I did high-frequency English
idiom so high-frequency means they’re
very common they’re very commonly used
next week I’m going to look at 20 more
high-frequency phrasal verbs I put more
here because I did a lesson about some
very common phrasal verbs last year so
I’m going to introduce some more very
very common phrasal verbs next week so
please join us again next week that is 9
p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday
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I’ll finish there so thanks very much
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