Advanced English Phrasal Verbs, Idioms, and Grammar

Classified in English

Written on March 18, 2026 in English with a size of 4.25 KB

Essential Phrasal Verbs

To step in for somebody: Substitute
To come up with: Elaborate
To jump at: Seize an opportunity
To take on: Assume
To hang around: Spend time in a place
To help out: Assist someone in a particular way
To cheer somebody up: Become less sad
End up: Finish in an improvised way
To run out: Exhaust resources
To settle in: Get used to something new
To catch up with: Arrest or meet
To cut back on: Reduce
To get in with: Join a group
To pay off: Finish paying something
To track somebody down: Find somebody
To turn up: Appear
To meet up: Come together
To bring about: Make changes happen

Common English Idioms

Out of the blue: Unexpected
Fell into place: Go exactly as planned
Go downhill: Getting worse
On the cards: Predictable
The rest is history: The outcome is known
A change of heart: A change of opinion
A change for the better: Improvement
To be made redundant: No longer needed
The icing on the cake: Unexpected extra good things
Have a lot on your plate: To be very busy
Put all your eggs in one basket: Depend on one thing
Have bigger fish to fry: Have more important things to do
Sweeten the pill: Make something bad seem better
Take with a pinch of salt: Be skeptical
Spill the beans, sell like hot cakes, get egg on your face, eat humble pie.

Word Formation

Predictable, alternative, hopeful, philosophical, experimental, speechless, noticeable, flawless, disposable, disastrous, extracurricular, beneficial, opinionated, kingdom, compulsive, apparent, innovators, constraints, consumption, domesticity, strengthened, misfortune, irreplaceable, disapproval, occupants, antiquity, dominant, customizing, kinship, outline, arguably, infinity, unpredictable, undeniable, unconscious, unassertive, insignificant, inconclusive, inexhaustible, irreplaceable.

Prepositional Phrases

In the region of: Approximately
On the brink of: Very close
To some extent: Partly
In conjunction with: Together with
On behalf of: As a representative of
In vain: Without success
On the grounds that: Because
With the exception of: Excluding
On the verge of: About to

Useful Phrases

Clutch at straws: Desperately trying other ways
Give and take: Flexible relationship
Black and white: Clear
Time and again: Something repeats
Through thick and thin: Good and bad times
High and dry: In a bad situation
Touch and go: Possible but uncertain
Flesh and blood: Family
First and foremost: The most important thing
Life and soul: Most fun person at a party

Inverted Conditionals

1st Inversion: If I study, I will pass → Should I study, I will pass.
2nd Inversion: If I were you, I would study → Were I to be you, I’d study.
3rd Inversion: If you had studied, you would have passed → Had you studied, you would have passed.

Note: 'If' can be replaced by: given that, as long as, provided that, on condition that.

Related entries:

Tags: