When gaining fluency in a language it’s always a pleasure to learn commonly used idioms.

I
thought I’d focus on six very simple, yet great English idioms that can be incorporated into your
speech no matter what your level of English is.

IT’S ABOUT TIME When something finally
happens that should have
happened a long time ago you
can use the expression “it’s
about time”. You can also use
it to express that it is nearly,
or almost time to do
something.
- It’s about time the
Richardson’s got a divorce.
They’ve been unhappy in their
marriage for years! (they’ve
finally gotten a divorce)
- Don’t you think it’s about
time we buy a new car? Ours is
falling apart! (it’s nearly time
to buy a new car)

ALL SET The expression “all set” is

another way of saying that
you’re ready.
- We were all set to go to the
beach when it started to rain.
(we were all ready to go)
- All set? (another way of
asking “are you ready?”)

A BITE TO EAT When you want to get “a bite to - The play’s going to be long, so
eat” it means that you want to maybe we should grab a bite to
get something to eat, usually eat before it starts. (we should get
something that is quick or some food quickly)
convenient. - We’ve been on the road for four
hours now! Can we stop to get a
bite to eat? (can we stop and eat
some food?)
- We’ve been working on this
CALL IT A DAY If you’re finished with your project for six hours and still
work and are ready to go home haven’t finished it! I think we
you can use the expression “call should call it a day. (we should
it a day”. quit working on the project and
go home)

- The soccer team decided to call

it a day after the center-back
broke his leg during practice. (the

A CLOSE CALL When a dangerous situation
almost happened you can call it
“a close call”. You can also call
an election or competition “a
close call” when more than one
person has a good chance of
winning.
team decided to stop playing
soccer and go home)
- I managed to swerve the car just
in time to miss hitting the dog.
However, it was a really close
call. (I almost hit the dog)
- Today’s F1 race is a close call
between Britain’s Jenson Button,
Brazil’s Rubens Barrichello, and
Australia’s Mark Webber. Who
will win it is anyone’s guess!
(they all have a good chance of
winning)
And now it’s about time for me to
call it a day. I’m off to go get a
bite to eat!