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If you're trying to make progress in your English, it's important to check out what level you're speaking at.
In today's lesson, I'll help you figure out what level you're speaking at and what level of phrases you are learning by categorizing 23 phrases into my English levels.
Today, we're going to be going over phrases that are elementary level, intermediate level, intermediate advanced, advanced English, fluent, and of course, master level English.
Let's see where you're at based on these phrases.
I'll give a brief explanation and show you how to use these.
And these are just some of the most popular phrases that you'll find taught online.
So let's get started. Let's start off with a quick explanation of four really common phrases that are taught at the elementary level of English.
So this is a level of English that maybe you learned in the classroom.
And these are the phrases that you can start using right away in your English speaking even if you're not feeling confident.
So the first phrase is, how's it going? How's it going?
This is what we teach English speakers. to use at the beginning of a conversation, especially in a more informal conversation Maybe you're getting more fluent and you're speaking now and you're working on your accent.
So it sounds more like, how's it going? How's it going?
Then rather than how is it going? How's it going?
How's it going? The next phrase is pretty similar.
It's a nice slang phrase that we teach in the elementary level.
It's what's up? What's up? It's the same as saying hi or how's it going?
Hey, what's up? What's up? What's up? I'm sure you know those two phrases.
The next idiom is something that we teach new English learners. especially if they want to say, you know, I'm listening.
Go ahead and tell your story. It's a really nice idiom that means this.
It's I'm all ears. Hey, can I tell you my story?
Yes, I'm all ears. It means I'm ready to listen.
It's a great idiom. I'm all ears. Finally, another great alternative phrase that even elementary English speakers can say is, hang in there if you want to say that someone is you know they should kind of encourage them and you're trying to say something kind even though the person is maybe complaining or saying they're having a tough time, you can say, hang in there.
Hang in there. So those four elementary phrases are pretty basic and I'm sure you already knew them.
Let's move on to intermediate. I have a feeling if you're watching this video, you might be at the intermediate or intermediate advanced level.
Let's check with these idioms and phrases that I'm sure you've already learned or maybe you've heard in conversation and you're pretty sure about the meaning.
The first is one of the most common idioms that seems to be taught at the intermediate level.
If you want to say good luck to someone, the idiom that you would never guess... until you know it, is break a leg.
So oftentimes, if someone is about to go on stage and give a performance, instead of saying good luck, we say, break a leg.
And you can say this not only if someone's going on stage, just in any sort of performance, or if they're about to start any sort of challenge, just to say good luck, We say break a leg.
So maybe you've learned this phrase, but maybe it's new to you as well.
Break a leg. Break a leg. Another one of those phrases that is taught so frequently by English teachers like myself, just as a good alternative, that english speakers use all the time is instead of saying you know we're going home we're finished with our work we say we're going to call it a day So this is kind of like an idiom because you wouldn't guess at first that this is what we mean.
But if we are, you know, done with our work, we're very tired, we might say, okay.
I'm going to call it a day and go home. This means you are done.
You are finished. You're calling it a full day of work.
And another idiom that kind of goes along with this one, it wasn't originally in my lesson, it's just kind of a bonus for you. is one of the most common ways that we casually say we're tired is we say, I'm pooped.
So maybe we'll say... I'm pooped. I'm gonna call it a day.
This just means I'm tired. I'm going home.
I'm done with work. Well, I'm calling it a day.
The next idiom on this list today in the intermediate section is taught so frequently by English teachers, and I've noticed that English students, even if they're children, can even use this idiom.
And once you learn this idiom, it's just so fun to say, I notice English learners use it a lot.
Now, this isn't to discourage you. It's a great idiom.
If you want to say that doing something is easy, you can call it a piece of cake.
So for some people, riding a bike is a piece of cake.
Or for some people, public speaking is a piece of cake.
It's very easy. For some people, it is not a piece of cake.
It's very difficult. So it just means that something is easy to do if you call it a piece of cake. piece of cake now finally you've probably learned that in english instead of saying i'm a little sick English speakers will use the idiom, I'm under the weather.
And again, this is a pretty easy one to start to use as an alternative while you're speaking English.
I use it myself. If I feel like I have, you know, just a minor sore throat or I'm getting stuffed up like I'm gonna get a cold or I'm just kind of tired, I might say, I'm a bit under the weather.
I'm under the weather. And of course, you need to make sure that you never use this phrase when talking about a serious illness like a disease or cancer, because that's way different than just being under the weather, being a little bit sick.
Now, if you have mastered all these phrases in the intermediate level, let's move on to advanced intermediate English.
If you haven't quite mastered all these phrases, that's okay.
It's good to also challenge yourself. Never be afraid to use phrases. that seem challenging to you because you have to actually be able to try and use the English and make the mistakes in order to get better.
That's how we grow. The first phrase I've taught many times before, it's a great idiom.
If you want to say that you are working into the night...
We say, Recently, I've been working on a new English course for my students, and...
I'm really passionate about it. I'm really excited about it.
So sometimes I'm just burning the midnight oil.
I'm working late. into the night so rather than sleeping i just keep working very late at night so that's all this idiom means simply is you're working late at night you're burning the midnight oil Work has been difficult lately.
I've just been burning the midnight oil.
This means you've been working, working, working long, late hours.
Oh, Bing. Burning the midnight oil. You know me, sir.
I have two phrases on this list that you might have learned to mean that you have revealed a secret or you have revealed something. some information.
The first phrase is to let the cat out of the bag.
So maybe you accidentally revealed a secret about someone or you revealed you know a secret about a party or a wedding or something and you didn't mean to say what you said you could say whoops i let the cat out of the bag Another phrase that English speakers use when they're starting to advance their English, instead of saying they revealed a secret, they might say,
I spilled the beans and this is just another classic idiom that's always taught by English teachers like myself.
Oh, well, cat's out of the bag. Well, time to spill the beans.
Finally, when it comes to making major life decisions... you're about to go through with something or do something that's going to change your life in a dramatic way, you might get cold feet.
This means you get really nervous or even doubtful about your decision that you're about to make.
This idiom is used really commonly when people are a bit nervous about getting married or having a wedding.
You might ask the bride or the groom on their wedding day, are you getting cold feet?
This means are you getting nervous or are you having... second thoughts.
So this idiom, you know, it's a bit difficult to use because you have to be in the exact right situation, but it's a good idiom that you are starting to advance your English if you're able to use a phrase like this.
Because it's so, you know, it You would never be able to guess what it means just based on the context of the words.
Cold feet means nervous when using this idiom. getting cold feet if you've been watching my channel for a while you'll actually already know these next four idioms in the advanced english category The first idiom is a sports idiom and is the ball is in your court.
The ball's in your court. When we use this idiom, we're telling someone that the decision is now up to them. or the responsibility is now theirs.
You've done everything that you could do, and now it is up to them to either finish the job, finish the deal, Or, you know, the responsibility is theirs now.
The ball is in your court now. It means it's no longer my responsibility.
I can't do anything with the ball. It's not a literal ball.
It's a responsibility or a decision. when we use this idiom.
And it's really common to use this idiom in your everyday conversations when it comes to making decisions or making a deal.
When you are saying someone is correct in English, there are so many ways to say it.
You can even just say exactly, totally, correct.
Now, if you are in the advanced English category, you may be able to use an idiom like this one.
You hit the nail on the head. This idiom means you are exactly correct.
We can use this idiom as well to compliment someone's problem solving or to complement someone's solution to something.
Like maybe someone has come up with this plan to fix something at work and you can say, wow, you really hit the nail on the head with this. plan.
It's really good. So it means they're correct and it means it's good problem solving.
So when we use the phrase to bite the bullet, it means we have to do something that is difficult or unpleasant.
Like for a lot of people, they don't like going to the dentist, but they just have to bite the bullet and do it.
So it means they just have to do something unpleasant.
Oftentimes we use this phrase when we're talking about doing something that's just unpleasant. unavoidable.
We know it's good for us. So we have to do it like going to the dentist or going to the doctor or going paying your taxes here in the United States.
You just have to bite the bullet and do it because it's just a part of normal life and it's good for us.
Go, bite the bullet. Instead of saying that you are giving up on something, maybe it's a challenge or something just personal that you were trying to do, you can say you're going to throw in the towel.
I'm just going to throw in the towel. This isn't working.
It means you are giving up. So we can use this literally in a competition with someone to mean that we're done.
They win. We give up. Or if we were trying to solve a problem, we just personally can't do it anymore because we've tried everything.
We're just throwing in the towel. The thing is I'm not ready yet to throw in the towel.
Okay, you might not feel like a fluent English speaker, but I promise you, you are able to still use the phrases that are in the fluent category today.
I categorize these as fluento because if you are at a high level of English, it is really natural and easy to use these phrases.
Whereas if you're still learning, it might take some effort, but you can do it.
Again, it's important to just challenge yourself because that's how we actually grow in our speaking.
And we just grow as a person in general while learning.
So I'm not going to waste any more time.
I'm going to cut to the chase. This phrase comes really natural to English speakers if they want to say, I'm going to stop wasting time and I'm going to start talking about what's important or i'm going to do what task i have to do right now rather than procrastinating or delaying Oftentimes, people don't want to talk about their money or their budget, and so they'll waste time and try not to talk about it.
But they might say, OK, Let's cut to the chase.
We need to talk about our budget and how much we're spending.
Cut to the chase. So this is used either in casual situations or like teaching if you're in a business or workplace conversation and you're ready to talk about the serious matter or what needs to be discussed.
Another phrase that's just like this is to beat around the bush.
I love teaching this phrase. I use it really naturally in my conversations as well.
If you think that you are talking about things that aren't really important or you're kind of just rambling in order to has some small friendly talk or you're just not ready to discuss a serious matter, you could say, sorry, I'm just beating around the bush here.
Let's cut to the chase. So you could use these two idioms together and it would actually be pretty natural.
Sometimes if you can sense that someone is nervous to tell you something.
Maybe they think that they're going to disappoint you or make you angry.
But you just want them to tell you anyway.
You could say, stop beating around the bush.
Tell me what's wrong. Oftentimes, this idiom is relevant when speaking with American English speakers. because we don't like to be direct.
So sometimes whatever we say, you have to read between the lines.
This phrase, to read between the lines, It means that you have to kind of interpret the meaning or you have to interpret the emotion just based on some small detail in what we're saying.
It's not super direct. Instead of saying, I'm super angry at you or I'm really pissed off at you.
They'll say, well, I'm kind of having a hard time... understanding why you did this.
So if you're reading between the lines and what I just said, you know, I'm having a hard time.
That probably means I'm angry or I'm disappointed or I'm even pissed off.
Read between the lines, Theo. Now, if you're ready to learn some master phrases, get ready because these are good.
These are really, really good idioms, guys, and they are going to challenge you, but you're going to be able to use these. taught them in my lessons here before.
So if you've watched a ton of my channel or listened to a ton of my lessons here, You might actually already know these and you may be surprised.
The first phrase is to pull out all the stops.
So if you say, I'm gonna pull out all the stops, it means you're going to try to impress someone with a lot of big details that you're going to have.
For instance, if you've ever been to a really expensive wedding, you will say they have pulled out all the stops at this wedding.
Maybe they have fireworks. Maybe they have a live band.
Maybe they have really fancy food. They've made all the efforts they can to make this wedding really fancy and and really impressive.
I pulled out all the stops. This phrase to pull out all the stops It's used really frequently when we're talking about big events or big celebrations. that are pretty impressive and extravagant and, you know, you're just surprised at how nice it is.
They pulled out all the stops. It means...
Nothing, no effort was spared. There's a lot of effort going into this event to make it nice.
When I was in college, I took a lot of science classes, even though they were quite difficult for me.
And I remember when I took biology, I passed...
By the skin of my teeth. This means I barely passed the class.
I was studying... for these tests. I was literally like going over these flashcards again and again and again.
I would study for a week in advance just to try to pass these tests.
So I wanted to do well, but I actually just passed by the skin of my teeth, which means I barely passed.
So when you use this phrase, it means you were barely barely able to succeed or meet the limit.
Sometimes if you just avoided danger, like you almost were in danger, you almost got attacked by an animal but you ran away, And close the door, you can say, we got away by the skin of our teeth.
You barely escaped a dangerous situation or you barely succeeded in a difficult situation.
We just escaped by the skin of our teeth.
So to push the envelope, this phrase means you go beyond what is normally acceptable.
A lot of times we use this phrase when we're talking about art or culture.
Lady Gaga is someone who has always pushed the envelope.
You can say envelope or envelope. By the way, both pronunciations are common in American English. it just means she's always you know pushed what was culturally normal in fashion or in music and you know she's done all these innovative and creative things that, you know, people at first were like, I don't know if I like this or...
Maybe they even thought it was bad or inappropriate at first, but she'll push the envelope a little bit and then she kind of makes it become more mainstream and it acceptable by pushing the envelope.
So that's what we mean when we use this phrase to push the envelope. to try to you know push the boundaries of what is normally acceptable and of course this phrase comes down to being, you know, culturally aware of what's going on and that can make it difficult to use as well.
The final idiom in today's lesson, it's a bit tricky to use, so pay attention here.
The phrase is to get the short end of the stick.
So this means that you are either treated unfairly or you get a bad deal in a situation.
Let's go over a couple examples here. So maybe you're at work and you have a project and you work really hard on it and you feel like you actually did most of the work. but your coworker kind of takes credit for it and your boss is like, oh, good job to your coworker. you feel like you kind of got the short end of the stick here because you worked so hard, but you didn't get any of the credit.
Another example is maybe you are going on vacation with some friends and you split the cost to rent a house And when everyone arrives, they pick their room and you arrive last.
And maybe you get the worst room in the house, even though you're paying the same amount as everyone else.
Maybe you just get a small room. or a room with no window, or everyone, you know, gets a view of the ocean on the beach and maybe you're in the basement of the house.
You got the short end of the stick. So there's a lot of ways that we can use this phrase just to mean we got a bad deal or we got treated unfairly.
And this can be a really tricky one to use in your native English conversation.
So that's why I say this is a master level idiom.
Yeah, you're getting the short end of the stick, all right.
Let me know in the comments where you have fallen on the scale of English levels here.
And remember, just because you don't feel like you're at fluent or master level yet doesn't mean you can't challenge yourself by trying to take one or two of these idioms and use them in your everyday conversations right now, or try to come up with a few examples of how to use them.
Because if you're challenging yourself, this is how you are going to grow.
I hope you guys study some more idioms and phrases like these in more of my English lessons that I have to offer here.
And I'll see you guys in the next English lesson.
Make sure to visit englishwithkayla.com if you're interested in checking out my English course.
Alright, thanks again for watching. Goodbye!
