IELTS TIPS – idiomatic language

Part of the IELTS marking criteria for speaking is ‘idiomatic language’. In the writing they say ‘uncommon lexical items’. That just means words and phrases that are less common.

If you can memorize some of these idioms, and adapt them to whatever question you get, then you will increase your marks. The ones on this page are informal, so use them in the IELTS speaking exam, or in General IELTS writing part 1.

Here are the idioms I talk about in the video.

Once in a blue moon (raramente).

It means rarely or not very often.
My best friend lives in Brazil so I only see her once in a blue moon.
My favourite place is a lake now my house. I used to go there all the time but now that I’m older, I only go once in a blue moon.

he/it drives me crazy / they drive me crazy (me deixa louco)

Frustrates you or makes you angry. Or makes people really excited.
There were so many people at the market and crowds drive me crazy.
He is a famous actor and he drives the teenage girls crazy

Off the top of my head (Sem pensar muito.)

I just thought of it
This is really good to start speaking with.
Off the top of my head, my favourite place is the lake near my house.
Off the top of my head, a famous speech I’ve seen was on ted talks, it was a speech by Bill gates.

going downhill/go downhill (ficar pior)

Getting worse, deteriorating.
The economy in my country is going downhill.
Sometimes I worry that our friendship will go downhill because we live so far apart.

without doubt (sem dúvida)

She is without doubt one of the best people I know
The speech is without doubt one of the most moving speeches I’ve seen.

Practice these idioms with a lot of different questions. See if you can adapt them. You need to sound natural so practice is important.

Here are some practice cards for IELTS speaking part 2:

Describe a place where you can learn
Describe a colourful event
Describe a time when you were asked to give your opinion in a survey
Describe something you did that was new or exciting
Describe an interesting speech you saw recently
Describe a famous writer in your country
Describe a room in your house

Next post we will be looking at phrases you can use in IELTS writing part 2!