English - Idioms and Phrases

English - Idioms and Phrases

Hello Readers,

  

• Hobson’s Choice- कोई विकल्प नहीं [no choices accept one (accept or neglect)]
• Hue & Cry- शोर शराबा (noise)
• Get rid off- छुटकारा पाना (Get rid off )
• Talk of town- चर्चित चीज़े (spot light articles)
• A bad egg- ऐसा व्यक्ति जिसका विश्वास न किया जा सके                                   
• Leep / jump in the dark- अँधेरे में तीर चलाना / तुक्का मरना
• Leave in the lurch- मुसीबत में साथ छोडना
• Egg someone in- बहुत ज्यादा सर पर चढ़ाना
• Put all the eggs in one basket- सब कुछ दाव पर लगाना
• Paint the town red- शराब के साथ मौज करना (enjoy with alcohol)
• Go nuts- पागल हो जाना 
• Go bananas- पागलों  की तरह बर्ताव करना (behave like crazy)
• See eye to eye- किसी के साथ सहमत हो जाना (to agree with someone)
• Use sledgehammer to crack a nut- सुई की जगह तलवार उपयोग करना (unnecessary effort)
• Nine days wonder- चार दिन की चान्दनी
• Wonders never cease- आज सूरज कहाँ से निकला?
• By all- हर तरह से
• By any- किसी भी तरह से
• Burns the fingers - अपने ही पैरो पर कुल्हाड़ी मरना
• Cloak and dagger- रहस्यमय या संदिग्ध (for mysterious or suspicious)
• Smell the rat- दाल में कुछ काला
• Something is fishy- कुछ गड़बड़ हैं
• See through some ones sleeves- किसी की चालाकी को भांप लेना
• At daggers drawn- खून के प्यासे / कट्टर दुश्मन
• Snake in the grass- आस्तीन का सांप (Hidden enemies)
• At 11^th floor- एक दम आखिरी समय (Last time)
• Cock and bull story- मनगढ़ंत कहानी (excuses)
• Coin a story- झूठी कहानी
• A dark horse- छुपारुस्तम
• Pandora’s box- मुसीबतों का पहाढ़
• Mammon’s pot- कुबेर का खजाना
• Pay through nose- किसी वस्तु के लिए बहुत ज्यादा भुगतान करना
• Fish out of water- बहुत ज्यादा तकलीफ में
• Fish in troubled water- मज़बूरी का फायदा उठाना
• Put oil in troubled water- किसी के गुस्से को शांत करना (Control the anger)
• Fan the flame- आग को भड़का देना
• Turn the table- बजी पलट देना
• Turn the coat- दल बदलू (Change the side)
• Pick holes in others coat- दूसरे के अन्दर कमियां ढूँढना (Pick fault of others)
• Cut your coat according to the cloth- जितनी चादर उतना ही पैर फैलाना
• Put spoke in other’s wheel- रूकावट डालना / आगे बढ़ने से रोकना
• Keep the powder dry- किसी काम के लिए हर समय तैयार रहना 
• Fly in the soup- रंग में भंग / कबाब में हड्डी
• Fly in the ointment- दूध में पड़ी मक्खी
• On cloud nine- बहुत खुश होना
• On 7^th heaven- सातवें असमान पर होना / बहुत खुश होना
• Once in a blue moon- ईद का चाँद होना / कभी कभी मिलना
• A wet blanket- मुसीबत / दुःख का कारन (cause of problem / sorrow)
• When bulls fight crops suffer- गेहूँ में घुन पिसना
• From the frying pan into the fire- आसमान से गिरे खजूर पर अटके
• The pot calling the kettle black- उल्टा चोर कोतवाल को डांटे
• A bad workman blames his tools- नाच न जाने आंगन टेढ़ा
• Apple pie order- हर चीज़ व्यवस्थित रूप से
• At sixes and sevens- अस्त व्यस्त / तितर बितर
• Bone of contention/ Apple of discord- झगड़े की जड़
• The raining cats and dogs- मूसलाधार बारिश
• Walk and chew gum- एक साथ कई कम करना (become multitasking at a point)
• Chips of the same block- एक ही थाली के चट्टे बट्टे
• Birds of a feather flock together- चोर चोर मौसेरे भाई
• Bite the hand beat you- जिसमें खाना उसी में छेद करना
• Cry over spilt milk- अब पछताए होत क्या जब चिड़िया चुग गई खेत
• Make hay while the sun shines- बहती गंगा में हाथ धुलना
• Telling your grand to suck the eggs- मेरी बिल्ली मुझसे ही म्याऊ
• A rolling Stone- एक जगह पर न टिके / धोबी का कुत्ता

state and cm

Monday, 21 July 2014

List of Indian State & Chief Ministers

1. Andhra Pradesh– NARA. CHANDRA BABU NAIDU

2. Arunachal Pradesh–Nabam Tuki

3. Assam–Tarun Gogoi

4. Bihar–Jitan Ram Manjhi

5 U.P.–Akhilesh Yadav

6. Uttarakhand–Harish Rawat

7. Goa–Manohar Parrikar

8. Gujarat–Anandiben Patel

9. Haryana–Bhupinder Singh Hooda

10. Himachal Pradesh-Virbhadra Singh

11. J & K–Omar Abdullah

12. Jharkhand–Hemant Soren

13. Karnataka–Siddaramaiah

14. Kerala–Oommen Chandy

15. M.P.–Shivraj Singh Chouhan

16. Maharashtra–Prithviraj Chavan

17. Manipur–Okram Ibobi Singh

18. Meghalaya–Mukul Sangma

19. Mizoram–Lal Thanhawla

20. Nagaland– T R Zeliang

21. Odisha–Naveen Patnaik

22. Punjab–Parkash Singh Badal

23. Rajasthan–Vasundhara Raje

24. Sikkim– Pawan Kumar Chamling

25. Tamil Nadu–Jayalalithaa

26. Tripura–Manik Sarkar

27. Telangana- Kalwakuntla Chandra Sekhar Rao

28. Chhattisgarh–Raman Singh

29. West Bengal–Mamata Banerjee

30. Puducherry–N. Rangaswamy

31. Delhi- Vacant

Adverbs

English Grammar

What are Adverbs?

èAn adverb is a word that tells us more about a verb. It "qualifies" or "modifies" a verb. Lets try to understand this with a small example.
Examples :

àThe bus moved slowly

àThe bears ate greedily.

Sometimes they tell us more about adjectivesè

Examples :

àYou look absolutely fabulous

 They can  also modify other adverbsè

Examples :

àShe played violin extremely well.

àYou ‘re speaking too quietly.

Adverbs: Comparative & Superlativeè

Ruleè

In general, comparative and superlative forms of adverbs are the same as for adjectives:

add -er or -est to short adverbs:

Adverb                       Comparative              Superlative

hard                             harder                          hardest

late                              later                             the latest

fast                              faster                           the fastest

Example:

àJim works harder than his brother.

àEveryone in the race ran fast, but John ran the fastest of all.

Rule è

With adverbs ending in -ly, use more for the comparative and most for the superlative:

Adverb                       Comparative              Superlative

quietly                          more quietly               most quietly
slowly                          more slowly                most slowly

seriously                      more seriously            most seriously

Example:

àThe teacher spoke more slowly to help us to understand.

à Could you sing more quietly please?

Ruleè

Some adverbs have irregular comparative forms:

Adverb                       Comparative              Superlative

badly                           worse                         worst

 far                               farther/further           farthest/furthest
little                              less                             least

Example:

àThe little boy ran further than his friends.

àYou're driving worse today than yesterday !

BE CAREFUL! Sometimes 'most' can mean 'very':

àWe were most grateful for your help

àI am most impressed by this application.

  ADVERBS OF MANNERè

Ruleè

Adverbs of manner tell us how something happens. They are usually placed after the main verb or after the object.

Examples:

àHe swims well, (after the main verb)

àHe ran... rapidly, slowly, quickly..

àShe spoke... softly, loudly, aggressively..

àJames coughed loudly to attract her attention.

àHe plays the flute beautifully. (after the object)

àHe ate the chocolate cake greedily.

BE CAREFUL! è

The adverb should not be put between the verb and the object:

Examples

àHe ate greedily the chocolate cake [incorrect]

àHe ate the chocolate cake greedily [correct]

Ruleè

If there is a preposition before the object, e.g. at, towards, we can place the adverb either before the preposition or after the object.

Examples

àThe child ran happily towards his mother.

àThe child ran towards his mother happily.

Ruleè

Sometimes an adverb of manner is placed before a verb + object to add emphasis:

Examples:

àHe gently woke the sleeping woman.

è Some writers put an adverb of manner at the beginning of the sentence to catch our attention and make us curious:

Examples:

àSlowly she picked up the knife.

Ruleè

(We want to know what happened slowly, who did it slowly, why they did it slowly)

However, adverbs should always come AFTER intransitive verbs (=verbs which have no object).

Examples

àThe town grew quickly

àHe waited patiently

 Also, these common adverbs are almost always placed AFTER the verb:

well, badly, hard, fast

PREPOSITIONS

PREPOSITIONS

A Preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to show in that relation the person or Having denoted by the noun stands to something else.
Some–times it is used after the word it goners.
(a) Here is the boy (Whom) you spoke of.
(b) What are you looking at
(c) When the object is the relative pronoun ‘that’ the preposition is always placed at the end:
as This is the book that were looking far.
(d) When the object is a relative pronoun or and interrogative preposition is used at the end.
Sometimes a word takes a certain preposition after it in one context and a different preposition in another context. Some such words are given as under:
1.
Abide by a thing.
Abide with a person.

2.
Accuse of crime.
Accused by a person.

3.
Apply to a person 
Apply for a thing.

4.
Appeal to a person.
Appeal against a thing.

5.
Angry with a person.
Angry at a thing.

6.
Annoyed at a thing.
Annoyed with a person.

7.
Apologize to a person.
Apologize for a thing.

8.
Accomplice with a person.
Accomplice   in some crime.

9.
Agree with a person.
Agree to proposal.

10.
Attend to a thing.
Attend upon a person.

11.
Award for a thing.
Award to a person.

12.
Account for a thing.
Account to a person.
13.
Affiliated to a university.
Affiliated  with a party.

14.
Burns into tears/ rage.
Burns upon a country.

15.
Feed on grass.
Feed a cow with grass.

16.
Accommodate oneself to circumstance.
Accommodate a person with lodging or loan.

17.
Ambitious for a thing.
Ambitious of getting fame.

18.
Disgusted at a thing.
Disgusted with a person.

19.
Displeased with a person.
Displeased at a thing.

20.
Die of disease.
Die for country.

21.
Differ from a thing.
Differ with a person.

22.
Enquire of a person.
Enquire into a matter.

23.
Eager for fame.
Eager in the pursuit of knowledge.

24.
Furnish a thing to a person.
Furnish a person with a thing.

25.
Familiar with a thing.
Familiar with a thing.

26.
Good at something.
Good for nothing.

27.
Grateful to a person.
Grateful for a thing.

28.
Involve in a thing.
Involve with a person.

29.
Join with a person.
Join to a thing.

30.
Live on food 
Live with a person.

Prepositions

Prepositions are words which show the relationship between a noun or a pronoun object and some other words in the sentence. They are always followed by nouns or pronouns. They are called "the biggest little words” in English because they have very important functions.

Three Groups of Prepositions:

a. Prepositions of place, position and direction.
b. Prepositions of time.
c. Prepositions for other relationships.

SOME COMMON PREPOSITIONS
PLACE	POSITION	DIRECTION	TIME	OTHER
above across along among at away from behind below beside between	beyond by down from in in front of inside into near off	on opposite out (of) outside over around through to towards under up	after before at by for during from in	except as like about with without by for

Rule: è
They are always followed by a "noun", never followed by a verb.
By "noun" we include:

à Noun (dog, money, love) 

à Proper Noun (name) (London, Mary) 

à Pronoun (you,him,us)

à Noun Group (my first car)

à Gerund (swimming)

If we want to follow with a verb, we must use the "-ing" form which is really a gerund or verb in noun form. è

Subject + Verb	Preposition	"noun"
The pen is	on	the table.
He lives	in	England.
Henry is looking	for	you.
The newspaper is	under	your green book.
Pascal is used	to	English people.
She isn't used	to	working.
We ate	before	coming.

Prepositions of Time / Place at, in, on à

à  At for a PRECISE TIME

à In for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS

à On for DAYS and Dates

At	In	On
At 4:30 pm	in March	on Monday
At 3 o'clock	In Winter	On 6 March
At noon	In the summer	On 22 Dec.2012
At dinnertime	In 1990	On Christmas Day
At bedtime	In the next century	On your birthday
At the moment	In the future	On New Year's Eve

Notice that use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions è

àIn the morning /On Monday morning

àIn the mornings / On Sunday mornings

àIn the afternoon(s) / On Sunday afternoons

àIn the evening(s) / On Friday evenings

Note : When we say next, last, this, every we do not use at,in,on. 

àI went to New York last June (not in last June)
àShe is coming back next Monday. (not on next Monday)
àI go home every Easter . (not at every Easter)
àWe'll call you this afternoon. (not in this afternoon) 

Place: at, in, on

In General: 

à At for a POINT (dog, money, love) 

àIn for an ENCLOSED SPACE 

àOn for a SURFACE 

At	In	On
At the bus stop	In London	On the wall
At the corner	In the garden	On the ceiling
At the entrance	In a box	On the floor
At the crossroads	In a building	On the carpet
At the top of the page	In a car	On a page

Some other common uses of at / on / in 

At	In	On
At home	In a car	On a bus
At work	In a taxi	On a train
At school	In a helicopter	On a plane
At university	In an elevator	On a bicycle
At the top	In the sky	On the radio
At the bottom	In the street	On the left
At the side	In a row	On a horse
At reception	In a boat	On a boat

Note : Notice how we can use on a boat or in a boat depending on the type and the size of the particular boat/ship.

More Prepositions

Prepositions	use	Example
during	while in	during the film,during the war, during my stay
for		for two days, for an hour
from / to		from Saturday to Monday, from 5 to 9
between	the time period from one to another	between 1986 and 2012, between Saturday and Monday
until/till	before a certain time	until/till Sunday,5 o'clock
by	at the least	by Tuesday, by next month, by tomorrow
to	movement towards	to school, to work, to the station
into	movement towards inside something	into the cinema, into the car
out of	to leave a place/a thing	out of the cinema,out of the car
by	near/next to/beside	LINK stand by me, by the lake
through		through the tunnel, through the room
across	opposite ends	across the river, across the street
against		against the wall, against the door
into	movement towards inside something	into the cinema, into the car

PHRASALVERB

Phrasal verbs are English verb complexes. They consist of a verb and one or more following adverbial or prepositional particle Which can be helpful in every competitive exams.

PHRASAL VERB	MEANING	EXAMPLE
ask someone out	invite on a date	Why don't you ask Carla out to dinner?
ask around	ask different people	I asked around but nobody is helping.
add up to something	to combine	Your savings will add up over time.
back something up	reverse	Back up your truck so I park.
back someone up	support	We will back you up financially.
blow up	explode	They blew up the tanks.
blow something up	add air	Blow up the balloons.
break up	to separate	Katie broke up with her boyfriend.
break down	stop functioning	My car broke down in the middle of the road.
break something down	divide into smaller parts	Break it down so we can understand better.
break in	Entering by force	The thief must have broken in from the back door.
break into something	enter by force	Someone broke into my car yesterday night.
break out	escape	Michael broke out of Fox River penitentiary.
bring someone down	make unhappy	Don't let your relationship bring you down.
bring up	to raise	Jessica was brought up by her grandparents.
bring something up	start talking about a subject	You shouldn't bring up this subject when you are in public.
call around	phone different people	I was calling around all morning to book our flights.
call someone back	return a phone call	I will call you back when I finish my homework.
call something off	cancel	It's false alarm, you can call it off.
call someone up	phone	Call me up when you are in town.
calm down	to relax	You can't think right, you need to calm down.
catch up	get to the same point	You two start running, I will catch up to you.
check in	arrive and register	Let's check in first and then we can go to the rooms.
check out	leave a hotel>	Wait for me, I need to check out and return the keys.
check someone/something out	look at carefully, to investigate	They are checking us out before hiring.
check out	look at td>	Check out that girl with blue shirt.
cheer one up	make happier	Don't worry, I know how to cheer her up.
chip in	help	Everybody chipped in to gather that much money.
clean up	to clean, tidy	Clean up your bedroom tonight.
come across	find unexpectedly	I came across these old photos when I was cleaning up my room.
come apart	separate	The sides of the box come apart.
come forward	to volunteer	I will award whomever comes forward for this job.
come up with	think of	Russell came up with a brilliant idea.
count on	rely on	I can count on this phrasal verbs list for tomorrow's grammar quiz.
cross something out	draw a line through	Please cross those numbers out, they are invalid.
cut down	make something fall to the ground	They cut down all the trees.
cut in	interrupt	I couldn't have a nice conversation with him because his friend kept on cutting in.
cut off	remove with something sharp	They will cut off the stitches next week.
cut off	stop providing	Are you saying that you couldn't do the homework because the electricity was cut off?