What you'll learn
Idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs are among the hardest parts of English for any learner, because their meaning cannot be worked out from the individual words. To let the cat out of the bag has nothing to do with cats, and put up with has nothing to do with putting or with height. CXC CSEC English Language tests them in Paper 1 through direct meaning items and through cloze passages requiring the correct particle, and rewards their controlled use in Paper 2, where natural idiom is a mark of fluent expression. By the end of this guide you should be able to define idiom, phrasal verb and collocation precisely, recognise the four structural types of phrasal verb and know which can be separated, use context to infer the meaning of unfamiliar idioms, judge which idioms suit formal writing and which do not, and avoid the mixed and misquoted idioms that cost marks.
Key terms and definitions
Idiom — a fixed expression whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal meanings of its individual words
Phrasal verb — a verb combined with one or more particles, forming a unit with a meaning different from the verb alone
Particle — the preposition or adverb forming part of a phrasal verb, such as the up in give up
Literal meaning — the direct, word-by-word meaning of an expression
Figurative meaning — the non-literal meaning an idiom actually conveys
Collocation — words that habitually occur together, such as heavy rain or make a decision
Separable phrasal verb — one whose object may be placed between the verb and the particle
Inseparable phrasal verb — one whose object must follow the complete verb and particle
Cliché — an idiom or phrase that has lost its force through overuse
Proverb — a short traditional saying expressing a general truth or piece of advice
Core concepts
What makes an idiom
An idiom is fixed and figurative. Both properties matter.
It is fixed because the words cannot be changed. It is raining cats and dogs cannot become raining dogs and cats or raining cats and puppies without destroying the expression.
It is figurative because the meaning is not the sum of the parts. To break the ice means to ease initial awkwardness, and no amount of analysing break and ice will reveal that.
This is why idioms must be learned as whole units rather than assembled from vocabulary, and why they cause difficulty even for speakers with large vocabularies.
Idioms commonly tested
Certain idioms recur across examination papers and are worth knowing securely.
Concerning effort and difficulty: to burn the midnight oil means to work late into the night; to be in hot water means to be in trouble; to face the music means to accept the consequences; an uphill battle means a difficult struggle.
Concerning speech and secrets: to let the cat out of the bag means to reveal a secret accidentally; to beat about the bush means to avoid coming to the point; to speak one's mind means to say exactly what one thinks; to take something with a pinch of salt means to treat it sceptically.
Concerning cost and value: to cost an arm and a leg means to be very expensive; to make ends meet means to manage financially; to cut corners means to do something poorly to save time or money.
Concerning situations: the tip of the iceberg means a small visible part of a much larger problem; a blessing in disguise means something that appears bad but proves beneficial; to be on the same page means to be in agreement; once in a blue moon means very rarely.
The Caribbean also has a rich store of its own proverbs and expressions, and these may appear in comprehension passages by regional writers. Where a passage uses one, the surrounding context will normally support an inference even if the expression is unfamiliar.
Phrasal verbs and their structure
A phrasal verb joins a verb with one or two particles, producing a meaning the verb alone does not carry. Look means to direct your eyes; look after means to care for; look up means to search for information; look into means to investigate; look down on means to regard as inferior.
This is why phrasal verbs are difficult: one verb generates many unrelated meanings depending on the particle, and the particle cannot be guessed.
Structurally there are four types.
Intransitive phrasal verbs take no object: The plane took off. The meeting broke up.
Transitive separable phrasal verbs take an object that may sit before or after the particle: She turned off the light or She turned the light off. Crucially, when the object is a pronoun it must go in the middle: She turned it off is correct and She turned off it is not.
Transitive inseparable phrasal verbs require the object to follow the whole unit: She looked after the children and She looked after them. She looked the children after is wrong.
Three-part phrasal verbs are always inseparable: We look forward to the holidays. She put up with the noise. He came up with a solution.
Phrasal verbs worth knowing
Grouping by verb is the most efficient way to learn them.
With get: get along means to have a good relationship; get over means to recover from; get by means to manage; get across means to communicate successfully.
With put: put off means to postpone; put up with means to tolerate; put down means to criticise or to record in writing; put forward means to propose.
With take: take after means to resemble a relative; take on means to accept responsibility; take up means to begin an activity; take in means to absorb or to deceive.
With run: run into means to meet unexpectedly; run out of means to exhaust a supply; run over means to hit with a vehicle or to review quickly.
With bring: bring up means to raise a child or to mention a topic; bring about means to cause; bring forward means to move to an earlier time.
With call: call off means to cancel; call on means to visit or to request; call for means to require.
Register: which expressions suit formal writing
Phrasal verbs generally belong to informal and neutral registers, and most have a single-word formal equivalent derived from Latin or French. Knowing the pairs lets you adjust register deliberately.
Put off becomes postpone; find out becomes discover; look into becomes investigate; carry out becomes conduct; set up becomes establish; go over becomes review; cut down becomes reduce; give up becomes abandon; come across becomes encounter; put up with becomes tolerate.
For a formal letter or a report, choose the single-word form. For a narrative, a speech or an informal letter, the phrasal verb is more natural and often more effective. Writing I am writing to find out about the vacancy in a formal application is noticeably weaker than I am writing to enquire about the vacancy.
Idioms follow a similar pattern. Most idioms are too informal for reports and formal letters, but they suit narratives, speeches, articles and informal letters well.
Clichés and overuse
A cliché is an expression so heavily used that it no longer carries force: at the end of the day, think outside the box, last but not least, every cloud has a silver lining.
Examiners are unimpressed by strings of clichés, which suggest borrowed rather than original thinking. Two or three well-chosen idioms in a piece of writing strengthen it; a dozen weaken it.
The general principle is that idiom should feel natural to the voice of the piece, not inserted to demonstrate knowledge.
Mixed and misquoted idioms
Because idioms are fixed, altering them produces an error that is immediately visible to an examiner.
Mixing two idioms is a common fault: That's the way the cookie bounces merges the way the cookie crumbles with the way the ball bounces.
Misquoting a single word is equally damaging: a damp squid for a damp squib, or should of for should have.
The safest rule is to use only the idioms you know exactly. An accurate plain sentence always scores better than a mangled idiom.
Worked examples
Example 1: Inferring an idiom from context (3 marks)
Infer the meaning of the underlined idiom: The manager refused to beat about the bush; within two minutes he had told them the branch would close and forty jobs would go.
The context contrasts the idiom with what the manager actually did, which was to state the difficult news directly and very quickly. The word refused signals that beating about the bush is the opposite of this behaviour. The idiom therefore means to avoid coming to the point, or to approach a subject indirectly and evasively.
Example 2: Placing the object correctly (3 marks)
Correct any errors and explain: She looked the address up. He looked after them. They put up with it. She turned off it.
She looked the address up is correct, because look up is separable and the object is a noun, so either position is acceptable. He looked after them is correct, because look after is inseparable, so the object must follow the whole unit. They put up with it is correct, because three-part phrasal verbs are always inseparable. She turned off it is wrong: turn off is separable, and when the object is a pronoun it must sit between the verb and the particle, giving She turned it off.
Example 3: Adjusting register (4 marks)
Rewrite this sentence from a formal report in an appropriate register: We looked into the problem and found out that the old system had been set up wrong, so we had to put off the launch.
The sentence contains four phrasal verbs, which are too informal for a report. Replacing each with its single-word equivalent produces: We investigated the problem and discovered that the previous system had been established incorrectly, so we were obliged to postpone the launch. Note that wrong has also been changed to the adverb incorrectly, since the word modifies a verb.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
The most frequent error is placing a pronoun object after the particle in a separable phrasal verb, as in turn off it or pick up them. Pronouns always go in the middle.
Students often attempt to separate inseparable phrasal verbs, producing look the children after. When in doubt, place the object after the whole unit, which is correct more often than not.
Mixing or misquoting idioms is highly visible and undermines the impression of control. Use only expressions you are certain of.
Overusing idioms and clichés in Paper 2 is a common way of trying to impress that has the opposite effect. Aim for a small number of well-placed expressions.
Finally, many candidates use phrasal verbs in formal letters and reports where the single-word equivalent is expected. Learn the common pairs and switch deliberately according to the task.
Exam technique for "Usage and Grammar: Idiomatic Expressions and Phrasal Verbs"
For meaning items in Paper 1, read the whole sentence before the options. The context usually eliminates two distractors immediately, since the wrong meanings will not fit the situation described.
Never interpret an idiom literally in a comprehension question. If a literal reading produces something strange, you are looking at an idiom and should reason from the context instead.
For cloze items requiring a particle, try each option aloud in your head. Phrasal verbs are learned largely by exposure, and the familiar combination is usually correct — this is one of the few areas where instinct is a reasonable guide.
In Paper 2, match your idiom use to the task. Narrative, speech and informal letter writing benefit from natural idiom; reports, formal letters and summaries call for the single-word formal equivalents.
Quick revision summary
An idiom is a fixed figurative expression whose meaning cannot be deduced from its words, so it must be learned as a whole and never altered. A phrasal verb combines a verb with one or more particles to produce a new meaning, and the four types are intransitive, transitive separable, transitive inseparable and three-part. Separable verbs allow the object on either side of the particle, but a pronoun object must sit in the middle; inseparable and three-part verbs require the object after the whole unit. Most phrasal verbs are informal and have single-word formal equivalents — put off and postpone, find out and discover, look into and investigate, put up with and tolerate — which should be used in reports and formal letters. Idioms suit narratives, speeches, articles and informal letters, where two or three well-chosen expressions strengthen the writing and a string of clichés weakens it. Mixed or misquoted idioms are immediately visible, so use only expressions you know exactly, and infer unfamiliar ones from the surrounding context rather than from their literal words.