100 Most Frequent Idioms

about to (do something) as for

- to be on the point of doing something - with regard to, concerning

I was about to leave when the phone rang. "As for me, I think that I will return home now."

according to (someone or something) as if

- as said or told by someone, in agreement with - in the same way that something would be, that
something, in the order of something, in proportion
to something The drink tastes as if it were made with orange
juice.
According to our teacher, there will be no class next It seemed as if the whole town came to the concert.
week.
We did everything according to the terms of our as long as
agreement.
- provided that, on condition that
account for (something)
"As long as you promise to be careful you can
- to provide an explanation or answer for something borrow my car."

The bad weather accounts for the fact that few

people came to the meeting. as soon as

after all - Just after something, when

- Considering the fact that something happened, I phoned my friend as soon as I finished dinner.
something that is usually assumed
as to
"You don't need to phone him. After all, he never
phones you." - with regard to, according to

all of a sudden "As to your question, I will answer it tomorrow."

- suddenly, without advance warning The players were put into groups as to their ability.

All of a sudden it became cloudy and began to rain. as well

as a matter of fact - in addition, also, too

- actually I plan to take a computer course this summer as

well.
"As a matter of fact, we have been to the history
museum many times." as well as

as far as - in addition to

- to the extent or degree of something As far as I "Please bring your swimming suit as well as your
know the movie will start in a few minutes. towel."
back and forth come on!

- backwards and forwards, first one way and then - please, hurry, go faster
the other way
"Come on, I only have a few minutes before I must
The argument went back and forth before the judge go."
made a decision. "Come on, stop doing that."

better off come up

- to be in a better situation than before - to happen unexpectedly

My friend would be better off if he sold his old car I will not be able to go to the party if something else
and bought a new one. comes up.
come up with (something)
break down (something)
- to produce or find a thought/idea/answer
- to divide something into parts, to separate
something into simpler substances I tried to come up with a name for the new
magazine.
We tried to break down the problem for further
study. deal with (something)
The sugar began to break down soon after it was
swallowed. - to be concerned with something, to take action
about something
break up
We will deal with the boxes tomorrow.
- to separate, to divide into groups or pieces, to put
an end to something end up (doing something or going somewhere)

Nobody wanted to break up their groups. - to do something that one had not planned to do, to
We usually break up into small groups during our go somewhere one had not planned to go
class.
We ended up going to a restaurant after the movie
by the way last night.

- incidentally figure out (someone or something)

"By the way, could you please bring your laptop - to try to understand someone or something, to
computer tomorrow." solve something

carry out (something) I finally figured out how to use the new DVD
player.
- to put something into action, to accomplish
something, to do something fill in (something)

The scientist wanted to carry out several - to write words in blank spaces
experiments before discussing the new medicine.
"Please fill in this form and give it to the
receptionist."
find out (something) get out of (somewhere)

- to learn or discover something - to leave somewhere, to escape from somewhere

My mother is angry at me because she found out I want to hurry and get out of my house.
that I had quit my French class.
get rid of (something)
first of all
- to give or throw something away, to sell or destroy
- the very first thing something, to make a cold or fever disappear

First of all we prepared the garden and then we I bought a new television set so I want to get rid of
planted the seeds. the old one.

for good get through (something)

- permanently - to complete something, to finish something

The city will close the public swimming pool for My friend is having trouble getting through her final
good next week. exams.
I have much reading that I must get through before
for sure tomorrow.

- without doubt, certainly, surely go ahead

"I will go to the movie with you for sure next - to begin to do something
week."
"Let`s go ahead and start now. We can`t wait any
get back to (something) longer."

- to return to something go on

I was happy to get back to my work after my - to continue

holiday.
The game will probably go on for an hour after we
get into (something) leave.

- to become interested or involved in something go over (something)

I do not want to get into an argument with my - to examine or review something

friend.
We will get into the details of the plan tomorrow. The accountant will go over the books tomorrow.
We plan to go over that question tomorrow.
get into (somewhere)

- to enter somewhere

My friend wants to get into a good university.

I bumped my head as I was getting into the car.
go through (something) I will take my umbrella in case it rains.

- to discuss something, to look at something, to do in common

something
- shared together or equally, in use or ownership by
The teacher decided to go through the exercise all
before the test.
I had nothing in common with the other members of
go with (something) the class.

- to choose one thing rather than another in detail

We decided to go with the small rental car rather - giving all the details, item by item
than the large one.
The saleswoman explained about the new product in
hang out (somewhere/with someone) detail.

- to spend one`s time with no great purpose, to in effect

spend leisure time with friends
- for practical purposes, basically
Recently my friend has been hanging out with a
group of people who are not a good influence on The man's silence was in effect a way of
him. disagreeing with the other people in the meeting.

have (something) to do with (something) in fact

- to be about something, to be on the subject of - actually, the truth is

something, to be related to something
The man has been to China before. In fact he has
"The book has something to do with cooking but I been there three times.
am not sure if you will like it."
That problem has nothing to do with me. in favor of (someone or something)

hold on - to approve or support someone or something

- to wait a minute, to stop, to wait and not hang up Everybody is in favor of the new police chief.
the phone My company is not in favor of changing our holiday
schedule.
"Please hold on for a minute while I lock the
window." in general

in a way - in most situations or circumstances

- to a certain extent, a little, somewhat In general, most of the people in our apartment are
happy with the new manager.
In a way I want to go to the new restaurant but in a
way I don`t really care. in order to

in case - for the purpose of

- if, if something should happen

They have decided to close down the school for the I was kind of tired when I arrived home last night.
summer in order to do some major repairs.
look for (something)
in other words
- to try to find something, to hunt/search for
- in a different (usually more direct) way something

"In other words, if you do not finish the assignment My friend has been looking for her credit card all
by Wednesday you will not pass the course." morning but she can`t find it.

in place look up (something)

- in the proper place or location - to search for something in a dictionary or other

book
Everything in the room was in place when we
arrived for the meeting. I will look up my friend's name in the telephone
book.
in some ways I looked up the word in the dictionary.

- in some unspecified way or manner, by some make a difference

unspecified means
- to cause a change in a situation
In some ways I know what my friend means but in
some ways I do not. It does not make a difference whether our boss
comes to the meeting or not.
in terms of (something)
make sense
- with regard to something
- to seem reasonable
In terms of our agreement with the other company
we were not allowed to sell the products online. His new proposal really does make sense.

in time make sure

- early enough - to make certain, to establish something without a

doubt
I did not come home in time to meet my cousin.
I want to make sure that my friend is going to meet
keep (someone or something) in mind me tomorrow.

- to remember and think about someone or more or less

something
- somewhat, to some extent
I told my co-workers to keep the new starting time
for work in mind. I more or less have decided to study business next
year.
kind of
no matter
- somewhat, more or less, moderately
- regardless
No matter how hard that I try, my piano teacher is point out (someone or something)
never satisfied.
- to explain or call attention to someone or
not at all something

- certainly not My teacher was very kind when she pointed out the
mistakes that I had made.
I am not at all happy with my new computer.
put out (something)
of course
- to produce or make something (a
- certainly, definitely, naturally product/brochure/report/CD/movie/paper)

"Of course you can use my car if you want to." The company puts out a newsletter every month for
the employees.
on the other hand
regardless of (something)
- however, in contrast, looking at the opposite side
of a matter - without considering or thinking about something,
without regard to something
He is very intelligent but on the other hand he is
very lazy and always gets low marks at school. Regardless of the weather we are going to go
fishing tomorrow morning.
on time
right away
- at the scheduled time, exactly at the correct time,
punctually - immediately

Our train arrived exactly on time. "I forgot to bring my book but I will go home and
get it right away."
once again
rule out (someone or something)
- again, one more time, once more
- to decide against or eliminate someone or
I tried once again to phone my boss at his home . something

open to (something) The police ruled out the man as a possible bank
robber.
- to be agreeable to learn or hear about new ideas or We decided to rule out Monday as the day to have
suggestions our meeting.

Most members of the class were open to the run into (something - a
teacher's ideas. fact/trouble/problems/difficulty)

pick up (something) - to experience something, to encounter something

- to get or receive something The mechanic ran into trouble when he was fixing
my car.
I will pick up my dry cleaning tomorrow. I ran into some interesting facts when I was
I picked up a copy of the newspaper at the station. researching my essay.

set up (something)
- to establish something, to provide the money for We took advantage of the beautiful weather and
something went to the beach.

The newspaper company provided the money to set take care of (someone or something)
up the new travel magazine.
The company set up a unique situation to test the - to look after or give attention to someone or
new product. something

show up You should take care of your health or you will

become sick.
- to appear, to arrive, to be present
take out (something)
"What time did your friend show up for the party?"
- to remove something from somewhere, to extract
so far something

- until now The teacher told us to take out our books.

I took out some onions from the refridgerator.
So far no one has entered the speech contest at the
television station. take over (something)

so to speak - to take control of something, to take command of

something
- as one might or could say, this is one way to say
something The large company wants to take over some of the
small companies in our area.
We had a good time at the restaurant, so to speak,
although the service was not very good. take place

sort of (something) - to happen, to occur

- to be almost something, to be similar to The soccer game took place on the coldest day of
something, to be not quite something the year.

"Did you finish cleaning the kitchen?" to the extent that

"Sort of, but not really."
- to the degree that, in so far as
stick with (something)
I plan to provide information about the new
- to continue doing something, to not quit company policy to the extent that I am familiar with
something it.

My brother has been able to stick with his trumpet turn in (something)
lessons since he was a child.
- to give something to someone, to hand something
take advantage of (someone or something) to someone

- to use someone or something for one's own benefit I arrived at school early so that I could turn in my
essay.
turn out

- to be found or known, to prove to be true It turned

out that more people came to the party than we
expected.

up to

- until, as far as a certain point, approaching a

certain point

Up to last week I had never been inside a bowling

alley.
There were probably up to thirty people at the
meeting.

up to (someone) to decide/do (something)

- to be responsible to choose or decide something

It is up to the company president to decide when the

meeting will start.

used to

- accustomed to

My friend is not used to living in such a big city.

with respect to (something)

- referring to something, concerning something

I do not know what the company will do with

respect to the old computer system.

work out (for the best)

- to end successfully

I hope that everything will work out for my friend

when she moves to London next week.