English Idioms: How To Improve Your Essay Writing To Sound Like a Native Speaker

Idioms are unique parts of the English language which brings a secret sauce to it. You usually do not have to understand idioms literally. Sometimes the meaning can be pretty obvious. However, most of the time, this is something you should know for sure. Some idioms were created back a few centuries ago and are still used in the language even now. And what can be more interesting when going back in time when people had very different lives and problems and feeling the ancient moment for a second with the help of short meaningful sentences? Some of them are brand new and might not even sound like idioms because they sound so natural in the conversation. Important thing: it’s better to know as many of them as possible. 

How to improve your writing with idioms

It is pretty obvious that once we are learning a new language, we are trying our best to speak normal, very simple words and sentences. It is often very complicated to build a sentence expressing what you truly mean. However, once you are improving - you do not only start exploring new edges of the language but also notice that everything said makes actual sense, especially in English. By developing your knowledge you discover such great things as idioms in the language. Not only can it express your actual thoughts more accurately, but also make you sound like a true native speaker. Another way to do it is to hire American essay writers for the assignments. This will be a great help with studying and also improving my writing in college. What can sound better in your assignment rather than an intuitively inserted idiom?

Idioms classification 

It is understandable that sometimes it’s a lot of struggle to remember the meaning of all idioms. However, it would be much more convenient to break them down into classes and learn it that way. Here are 7 kinds we can break idioms into: 

• Verb+object/complement. Example: Take it with a grain of salt. 
• Preposition phrase. Example: on the ball. 
• Compound. Example: a blessing in disguise. 
• As+adjective+as/like+noun. Example: as right as rain. 
• Word+and+word. Example: live and learn. 
• 2 words+and+word. Example: cool, calm and collected. 
• Clause or sentence. Example: You can’t judge a book by its cover. 

Idioms are not only complicated for beginners or intermediate English learners, they can also make trouble for the native speakers. Most of the time, there is no particular way of identifying the meaning of a particular idiom, this is something that should be learned by heart. There are many common ones like “make a long story short”, “time flies when you are having fun”, “give someone the benefit of the doubt”, etc. Nevertheless, there are plenty of ones that are not clear and are rarely used in normal life.  The point here is that even native English-speaking people need to study them. It might be easier for them since they hear some of them around themselves, however, it is not the case with too many of them. 

Best ways to learn new idioms

It might be very apparent, but this is something that should be said out loud. To be more native you need to learn and use idioms. That’s it. Yes, as we are getting older, it’s harder to learn anything, there is less desirable, but it is still important. There is no need to learn all idioms at once, it is definitely not the goal. It can be slow but effective. You can break them down into categories, like above, or just choose the top ones you feel will be relevant to be used - and learn one per day, for example. What is also important – is not just to learn them, but also to use them while you speak. Otherwise, you will easily forget them. Put them naturally into your conversations, and listen to your companion, maybe there is something about his speech that makes it sounds like a native or attracts attention? 

It is crucial to use idioms while speaking English. It is one of the signs that, even though English is not your native language, - you are pretty close to making it your second fluent one. Some of the idioms come naturally in vocabulary speech or even in the daily one. However, it is important to also learn new ones with time. Yes, it might not be easy at all. Although, this is one of the ways to improve your skills once you hit an intermediate bar. It is a way of exploring the language like a new book you just started reading and it’s opening up for you from a different, more mysterious side. You will for sure impress your opponents and will be impressed with what stands behind each and every idiom. 

Kathy Mercado writes articles and essays and it’s not only a job. Writing is her passion. She has written hundreds of outstanding college essays. Now she is working on research about the role of AI at school education.