In everyday conversation, we use a lot of phrases and idioms, irrespective of whatever language you might speak. For example, if you want to say that something is old in Hindi, we say “Baba Adam ke zamaney ka hai“. You might have similar idioms in Tamil, Telegu, Bengali, Gujarati or any other language that you might use. Similarly, in English, you have different phrases and idioms that help in better communication. In the English language paper in IBPS RRB Mains, you have to answer questions on idioms and phrases. Let us see how you can answer the IBPS RRB phrases and idioms questions in a smart way! Let’s begin!
Analyzing IBPS RRB Phrases and Idioms
Let us first analyze the questions on phrases and idioms that come in the IBPS RRB exam. Before you start your bank exam preparation, it really helps if you could know about the questions that come in the exam. Let us analyze the IBPS RRB phrases and idioms questions a little bit closer.
Average Number of Questions: The average number of questions vary from year to year. If you look at the previous year question papers, you would find that about 2-3 questions come from phrases and idioms every year. However, the number can go up in the coming years. In IBPS RRB mains 2021, you can expect at least 3 questions or even more from idioms and phrases.
The Level of Difficulty: The questions on idioms and phrases are generally easy to solve. However, in some years, some of the questions were of moderate difficulty.
The Amount of Practice That You Need: Idioms and phrases don’t really need intense practice every day. If you could solve 20-30 questions every week, then that would be more than enough. It would help you if you could go through some of the most common idioms and phrases. We would be providing some at the end of this post.
Some Facts About the IBPS RRB Idioms and Phrases Questions
What is the structure of the questions asked about idioms and phrases in IBPS RRB?
The structure of the questions is rather simple. There can be two types of questions. The first one is pretty straightforward. You would be given a phrase and be asked to choose the right meaning from the list of given options. However, these type of questions has become rare nowadays in IBPS RRB. The second type is more common. In this type of questions, you would be given a sentence. The first part would be a normal sentence but the second part of the sentence, you would have the idiom. The two parts would have a certain connection. You would have to choose the right answer from the options.
Example: His birthday was supposed to be a surprise! I can’t believe you let the cat out of the bag.
a) to let the pet roam around freely
b) to try to save someone from a disaster
c) to make someone subordinate
d) to accidentally reveal a secret
Do I need to learn all of the idioms and phrases?
Well, there are hundreds of thousands of idioms in the English language. Learning them would take months of dedicated preparation. This is not exactly needed. You can easily understand a particular idiom or phrase by following a simple trick.
Is there any book that I can follow?
Most standard grammar books would have a section on idioms and phrases. Check out the following books:
- High School English Grammar and Composition Book (Regular Edition) Wren and Martin
- For all Competitive Exams Idioms & Phrases– Arihant
They should be enough to cover the topic pretty well. Now, let’s look at the right approach to solving the question
Solving IBPS RRB Phrases and Idioms Questions
Let’s take a look at how you should approach such questions in your RRB exam. The approach is rather simple and it doesn’t require you to be a master of the English language. So, let us look at the steps you should follow to solve IBPS RRB phrases and idioms.
We are going to take the example that we cited above and see the step by step approach in which you can solve questions like these.
Question:
His birthday was supposed to be a surprise! I can’t believe you let the cat out of the bag.
a) to let the pet roam around freely
b) to try to save someone from a disaster
c) to make someone subordinate
d) to accidentally reveal a secret
Solution: Here we have to find the meaning of the idiom ‘cat out of the bag’. Let us see how we can do that.
STEP 1 – Understand – The first thing that you need to do is read the sentence and understand what it is all about. Here we can guess that two people are talking about the planned surprise for another person’s birthday
STEP 2 – Look for clues – You need to look for clues that might unravel the meaning of the idiom. From the first part of the sentence, we get the word ‘supposed’. This means that something was planned. At the start of the second sentence, the person exclaims ‘I can’t believe’. This probably means that the other guy did something that spoiled the surprise.
STEP 3 – Look at the options – From the above step, it is clear that we should be looking for something that is similar to spoiling a surprise. In option (d), we get that. All the others are way off.
STEP 4 – Answer – Select Option (d) as the answer
Answer: Option (d)
Practice Questions
Question 1: I’m sorry I can’t come into work today. I’m feeling under the weather.
Options:
(a) that weather is good
(b) it seems as it will rain
(c) to feel as if under suspicion
(d) to not feel well
(e) to be doubtful about the work
Answer: d
Question 2: I have been trying to figure this out for ages. Thanks so much, you’re right. You have to hit the nail on the head.
Options:
(a) to repair perfectly
(b) to hit exactly the right place
(c) to describe exactly where the actual opportunity lies
(d) to describe exactly what is causing a situation or problem
(e) all are correct
Answer: d
Question 3: We missed our flight to Delhi because the connecting flight was late and to add insult to injury they made us pay for a new ticket as if it was our fault!
Options:
(a) to be compensated
(b) to make a situation worse
(c) to be reprimanded
(d) to be praised
(e) to be ruined
Answer: b
Question 4: Rupa might not be the most attractive but you can’t judge a book by its cover.I’m sure she is a sweetheart.
Options:
(a) to prove someone innocent
(b) to make someone a cheater
(c) to not judge someone or something based solely on appearance
(d) to select a book by seeing its contents
(e) to select a book by its quantity
Answer: c
Some Common Idioms for IBPS RRB English Preparation
Here are some of the common idioms that are commonly asked in IBPS RRB mains exam
| Idiom | Meaning | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| A blessing in disguise | a good thing that seemed bad at first | as part of a sentence |
| A dime a dozen | Something common | as part of a sentence |
| Beat around the bush | Avoid saying what you mean, usually because it is uncomfortable | as part of a sentence |
| Better late than never | Better to arrive late than not to come at all | by itself |
| Bite the bullet | To get something over with because it is inevitable | as part of a sentence |
| Break a leg | Good luck | by itself |
| Call it a day | Stop working on something | as part of a sentence |
| Cut somebody some slack | Don’t be so critical | as part of a sentence |
| Cutting corners | Doing something poorly in order to save time or money | as part of a sentence |
| Easy does it | Slow down | by itself |
| Get out of hand | Get out of control | as part of a sentence |
| Get something out of your system | Do the thing you’ve been wanting to do so you can move on | as part of a sentence |
| Get your act together | Work better or leave | by itself |
| Give someone the benefit of the doubt | Trust what someone says | as part of a sentence |
| Go back to the drawing board | Start over | as part of a sentence |
| Hang in there | Don’t give up | by itself |
| Hit the sack | Go to sleep | as part of a sentence |
| It’s not rocket science | It’s not complicated | by itself |
| Let someone off the hook | To not hold someone responsible for something | as part of a sentence |
| Make a long story short | Tell something briefly | as part of a sentence |
| Miss the boat | It’s too late | as part of a sentence |
| No pain, no gain | You have to work for what you want | by itself |
| On the ball | Doing a good job | as part of a sentence |
| Pull someone’s leg | To joke with someone | as part of a sentence |
| Pull yourself together | Calm down | by itself |
| So far so good | Things are going well so far | by itself |
| Speak of the devil | The person we were just talking about showed up! | by itself |
| That’s the last straw | My patience has run out | by itself |
| The best of both worlds | An ideal situation | as part of a sentence |
| Time flies when you’re having fun | You don’t notice how long something lasts when it’s fun | by itself |
| To get bent out of shape | To get upset | as part of a sentence |
| To make matters worse | Make a problem worse | as part of a sentence |
| Under the weather | Sick | as part of a sentence |
| We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it | Let’s not talk about that problem right now | by itself |
| Wrap your head around something | Understand something complicated | as part of a sentence |
| You can say that again | That’s true, I agree | by itself |
| Your guess is as good as mine | I have no idea | by itself |
Here are some more:
| Idiom | Meaning | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush | What you have is worth more than what you might have later | by itself |
| A penny for your thoughts | Tell me what you’re thinking | by itself |
| A penny saved is a penny earned | Money you save today you can spend later | by itself |
| A perfect storm | the worst possible situation | as part of a sentence |
| A picture is worth 1000 words | Better to show than tell | by itself |
| Actions speak louder than words | Believe what people do and not what they say | by itself |
| Add insult to injury | To make a bad situation worse | as part of a sentence |
| Barking up the wrong tree | To be mistaken, to be looking for solutions in the wrong place | as part of a sentence |
| Birds of a feather flock together | People who are alike are often friends (usually used negatively) | by itself |
| Bite off more than you can chew | Take on a project that you cannot finish | as part of a sentence |
| Break the ice | Make people feel more comfortable | as part of a sentence |
| By the skin of your teeth | Just barely | as part of a sentence |
| Comparing apples to oranges | Comparing two things that cannot be compared | as part of a sentence |
| Costs an arm and a leg | Very expensive | as part of a sentence |
| Do something at the drop of a hat | Do something without having planned beforehand | as part of a sentence |
| Do unto others as you would have them do unto you | Treat people fairly. Also known as “The Golden Rule” | by itself |
| Don’t count your chickens before they hatch | Don’t count on something good happening until it’s happened. | by itself |
| Don’t cry over spilt milk | There’s no reason to complain about something that can’t be fixed | by itself |
| Don’t give up your day job | You’re not very good at this | by itself |
| Don’t put all your eggs in one basket | What you’re doing is too risky | by itself |
| Every cloud has a silver lining | Good things come after bad things | by itself |
| Get a taste of your own medicine | Get treated the way you’ve been treating others (negative) | as part of a sentence |
| Give someone the cold shoulder | Ignore someone | as part of a sentence |
| Go on a wild goose chase | To do something pointless | as part of a sentence |
| Good things come to those who wait | Be patient | by itself |
| He has bigger fish to fry | He has bigger things to take care of than what we are talking about now | by itself |
| He’s a chip off the old block | The son is like the father | by itself |
| Hit the nail on the head | Get something exactly right | by itself |
| Ignorance is bliss | You’re better off not knowing | by itself |
| It ain’t over till the fat lady sings | This isn’t over yet | by itself |
| It takes one to know one | You’re just as bad as I am | by itself |
| It’s a piece of cake | It’s easy | by itself |
| It’s raining cats and dogs | It’s raining hard | by itself |
| Kill two birds with one stone | Get two things done with a single action | by itself |
| Let the cat out of the bag | Give away a secret | as part of a sentence |
| Live and learn | I made a mistake | by itself |
| Look before you leap | Take only calculated risks | by itself |
| On thin ice | On probation. If you make another mistake, there will be trouble. | as part of a sentence |
| Once in a blue moon | Rarely | as part of a sentence |
| Play devil’s advocate | To argue the opposite, just for the sake of argument | as part of a sentence |
| Put something on ice | Put a projet on hold | as part of a sentence |
| Rain on someone’s parade | To spoil something | as part of a sentence |
| Saving for a rainy day | Saving money for later | as part of a sentence |
| Slow and steady wins the race | Reliability is more important than speed | by itself |
| Spill the beans | Give away a secret | as part of a sentence |
| Take a rain check | Postpone a plan | as part of a sentence |
| Take it with a grain of salt | Don’t take it too seriously | as part of a sentence |
| The ball is in your court | It’s your decision | by itself |
| The best thing since sliced bread | A really good invention | as part of a sentence |
| The devil is in the details | It looks good from a distance, but when you look closer, there are problems | by itself |
| The early bird gets the worm | The first people who arrive will get the best stuff | by itself |
| The elephant in the room | The big issue, the problem people are avoiding | as part of a sentence |
| The whole nine yards | Everything, all the way. | as part of a sentence |
| There are other fish in the sea | It’s ok to miss this opportunity. Others will arise. | by itself |
| There’s a method to his madness | He seems crazy but actually he’s clever | by itself |
| There’s no such thing as a free lunch | Nothing is entirely free | by itself |
| Throw caution to the wind | Take a risk | as part of a sentence |
| You can’t have your cake and eat it too | You can’t have everything | by itself |
| You can’t judge a book by its cover | This person or thing may look bad, but it’s good inside | by itself |
So, these were some of the things that you can try out for solving IBPS RRB phrases and idioms questions. For more such interesting and useful articles on IBPS RRB preparation, keep browsing our website.
Best of luck!
Team Topprnotes.
