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10 Idiomatic Expressions for IELTS speaking...Make them part of your conversation and achieve your band 7 or more!

1. TO HAVE A WHALE OF A TIME
Meaning – To have a very fun and exciting time

Example IELTS question – Tell me about your hometown.

Example answer with idiom – Well, I’m from London which is a world-renowned city for its history and culture. They say he who is bored of London is bored of life! There is so much to do here that you are guaranteed to have a whale of time if you visit.

2. TO BE ON CLOUD NINE
Meaning – very happy and joyful

Example IELTS question - Do you like your job?

Example answer with idiom – I must say that I adore my job and all the people that work there. It is a pleasure to go to work there each morning. I feel content with my life at the moment and I am on cloud nine.

3. TO BE ON TOP OF THE WORLD
Meaning – feeling amazing, wonderful, ecstatic

Example IELTS question – is art popular in your country?

Example answer with idiom – Yes, I would say that art is highly popular in my nation. Art has the power to unite us and express feelings that we cannot with words alone. When I look at my absolute favourite piece of art, “starry night” by Vincent Van Gogh I feel inspired and on top of the world. It shows me true beauty and that I believe is why art is so popular.

4. TO BE OVER THE MOON
Meaning – extremely pleased and happy

Example IELTS question – What did you do on your last birthday?

Example IELTS answer with idiom – On my last birthday I went to Paris with my girlfriend. It was an incredible city and the food was to die for! The trip was actually a surprise and when my girlfriend told me I was over the moon.

5. TO BE LIKE A DOG WITH TWO TAILS
Meaning – Dogs express happiness through wagging their tails. Therefore, a dog with two tails must be very happy!

Example IELTS question – Who is your best friend?

Example IELTS answer with idiom – My best friend is called Matthew. We have known each other since we were children. Every time I see him, I’m like a dog with two tails.
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6. IT MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL
Meaning – to make you very angry

Example IELTS question – Do you get on with your family?

Example IELTS answer with idiom – I get on reasonably well with most of my family. But my sister is an awful person. She is very selfish and arrogant. Just hearing her voice makes my blood boil.

7. IT DRIVES ME UP THE WALL
Meaning – it annoys you a lot

Example IELTS question – What is your favourite food

Example IELTS answer with idiom – I would have to say that my favourite food is mashed potatoes. However, it drives me up the wall when people don’t mash them properly and the potatoes have disgusting lumps.

8. I HIT THE CEILING
Meaning – To get very angry and upset

Example IELTS question – Did you have a hobby as a child?

Example IELTS answer with idiom – As a child my hobby was always cycling. I used to ride my bike everywhere I could. One day though, my sister borrowed my bike and crashed it. I hit the ceiling but luckily the damage was not too bad.
Similar expressions
I hit the roof

9. HE/IT WINDS ME UP
Meaning – someone or something really annoys you

Example IELTS question – Tell me about your first day in work.

Example IELTS answer with idiom – My first day in work was terrible! My boss wound me up as he kept shouting at me.

10. TO GET ON YOUR NERVES
Meaning – someone annoys you a lot

Example IELTS question – How could your neighbourhood be improved?

Example IELTS answer with idiom – It gets on my nerves that we have no recycling here. I am a big supporter of the environment and we should do more to save it.

Source:

10 Idioms for IELTS speaking that will boost your score — Learn real British English | Love to Learn English | Brazil | Portugal instead of randomly memorising large lists of hard to use idioms I recommend that you focus on idioms for positive and negative emotions. This is because you will always have the opportunity to express your own or someone else’s positive or negative opinions in IELTS.

Collocations, collocations, collocations!

It is important to master them in order to get an IELTS Band 7 or higher.

There are seven main types of collocation:

𝟭. 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯 + 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲.

Invading that country was an 𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗱 thing to do.

𝟮. 𝗮𝗱𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 + 𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻.

The doctor ordered him to take 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲.

𝟯. 𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻 + 𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻.

Let's give Mr Jones a 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 of 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲.

𝟰. 𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻 + 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯.

The 𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 started 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗿 when it heard the 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴.

𝟱. 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯 + 𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻.

I always try to 𝗱𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 in the morning, after 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗱.

𝟲. 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯 + 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

We had to return home because we 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆.

𝟳. 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯 + 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯.

Mary 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗹𝘆 in John's ear.

Celebrating our first graduates from the 20 hour IELTS preparation course at Instituto Cambridge in Ciudad Guzman, Jalisco, Mexico.👩‍🎓👨‍🎓

Have you recently taken an IELTS test, but did not understand the score you were given in the speaking test?

Well, check out this link with some sample videos and an official score for each candidates performance 😉

Understanding IELTS Speaking Scores Watch these IELTS Speaking test samples and read the examiner comments to see the differences between different IELTS bandscores.

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