An idiom in English is a short phrase or expression that is commonly used to explain a situation. The meaning is not literal, so you can’t understand the meaning of idioms just by translating the words. You have to understand the context and the culture of the expression.

For example, if you’re very sad, you can say “I’m feeling blue”. If you owe someone money, we often say “I'm in the red”. If you tried to translate these idioms, it would sound very strange, so you need to understand the symbolic meaning of these expressions.

Most languages use idioms. I’m sure you can think of lots of idioms in your own language. Sometimes the same idiom is popular in many different languages, but some idioms are only specific to one particular language or culture.

We use idioms for different reasons. Sometimes they are useful for sharing wisdom or good advice. Sometimes they are just funny and can help to make what we say more interesting.

Idioms can be difficult to understand when you’re learning English, but this series of videos will help you to learn some very popular idioms we use in English. This will really help you to sound much more natural when you speak English.