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Category: Daily Life Idioms

  • Idioms: Colours (PDF)

    Idioms: Colours (PDF)

    Colour idioms is the B1 figurative collection built on chromatic metaphors. See red (become very angry), feel blue (feel sad), green with envy (very jealous), in the black (profitable), in the red (in debt), white lie (small harmless lie), out of the blue (unexpectedly), roll out the red carpet (welcome someone grandly), grey area (ambiguous territory), born with a silver spoon (born into wealth). Learners build the colour-idiom range.

    This worksheet builds B1 fluency with colour idioms.

    What’s inside:

    • An idiom bank with 18 colour expressions organised by colour
    • Matching task: idiom to meaning
    • Gap-fill in contextual sentences
    • Production task: write a short paragraph using three colour idioms
    • Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes

    Common challenges: Colour-meaning conventions vary across cultures — green = envy in English is universal-Western; in some L1s green can mean different emotions. In the black/red are financial-specific. Distinguishing colour-as-literal from colour-as-idiom: I saw red curtains (literal) vs I saw red when she said that (figurative).

    For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1, in intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. Maps onto Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET) and B2 First (FCE) Reading-Use of English. Part of the Daily Life Idioms collection — the natural next step is Idioms: General Everyday Expressions.

  • Idioms: Weather Expressions (PDF)

    Idioms: Weather Expressions (PDF)

    Weather expressions idioms is the B1 figurative collection built on atmospheric metaphors. Under the weather (unwell), on cloud nine (very happy), raining cats and dogs (raining heavily), a storm in a teacup (overreaction to a small problem), save for a rainy day (save money for emergencies), steal someone’s thunder (take credit for someone’s idea), break the ice (start a conversation), as right as rain (perfectly fine). Learners build the weather-idiom range that English uses constantly.

    This worksheet builds B1 fluency with weather idioms.

    What’s inside:

    • An idiom bank with 18 weather expressions
    • Matching task: idiom to meaning
    • Gap-fill in conversational contexts
    • Production task: write a dialogue using three weather idioms
    • Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes

    Common challenges: Weather-idiom transparency: raining cats and dogs is fully opaque; save for a rainy day is metaphor-transparent. Frequency: under the weather (high) vs steal someone’s thunder (medium). Register: weather idioms work in casual writing and speech.

    For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1, in intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. Maps onto Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET) and B2 First (FCE) Reading-Use of English. Part of the Daily Life Idioms collection — the natural next step is Idioms: Colours.

  • Idioms: Food and Drink (PDF)

    Idioms: Food and Drink (PDF)

    Food and drink idioms is the B1–B2 figurative collection built on culinary metaphors. A piece of cake (easy), the icing on the cake (a bonus), spill the beans (reveal a secret), in a nutshell (in summary), butter someone up (flatter), bring home the bacon (earn a living), take with a pinch of salt (be sceptical), put all your eggs in one basket (depend on one option), go bananas (get very excited or angry). Learners build the food-idiom range.

    This worksheet builds B1–B2 fluency with food-and-drink idioms.

    What’s inside:

    • An idiom bank with 20 food-and-drink expressions
    • Matching task: idiom to meaning
    • Gap-fill in conversational contexts
    • Production task: write a dialogue using three food idioms
    • Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes

    Common challenges: Food-idiom transparency varies — a piece of cake is semi-transparent; butter someone up is opaque. Cultural variation: some food idioms (put all your eggs in one basket) translate; some (bring home the bacon) don’t. Register: food idioms are mostly casual.

    For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1–B2, in intermediate and upper-intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. Maps onto Cambridge B2 First (FCE) Reading-Use of English. Part of the Daily Life Idioms collection — the natural next step is Idioms: Weather Expressions.

  • Idioms: General Everyday Expressions (PDF)

    Idioms: General Everyday Expressions (PDF)

    General everyday expressions is the B1 foundational idiom collection — the high-frequency figurative phrases native speakers use constantly. Hit the books (study hard), call it a day (finish work), break the ice (start a conversation), piece of cake (very easy), cost an arm and a leg (very expensive), under the weather (unwell), on the same page (in agreement), go the extra mile (do more than expected). Learners build the receptive recognition of the everyday idiomatic layer of English.

    This worksheet builds B1 fluency with everyday idioms.

    What’s inside:

    • An idiom bank with 25 highest-frequency everyday expressions
    • Matching task: idiom to meaning
    • Gap-fill in conversational contexts
    • Production task: write five sentences using different everyday idioms
    • Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes

    Common challenges: Everyday-idiom frequency varies widely — piece of cake and break the ice are extremely high-frequency; learners benefit from recognising and using them. Register: these idioms work in casual professional speech; almost never in formal writing.

    For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1, in intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. Maps onto Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET) and B2 First (FCE) Reading-Use of English. Part of the Daily Life Idioms collection — the natural next step is Idioms: Food and Drink.