An idiom never means what its words literally say. A phrasal verb changes its whole meaning depending on which small word follows it — "give up" and "give in" are worlds apart.
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An idiom is a fixed phrase whose meaning cannot be worked out from the individual words — it has to be learned as a whole.
📌 Reading an idiom correctly
Never translate word for word — "kick the bucket" has nothing to do with buckets; it means "to die".
Look at the surrounding sentence for a clue to the figurative meaning.
Learn idioms in a full sentence, not as a lone phrase — it is easier to recall and use correctly.
✨ Common Olympiad idioms
A PIECE OF CAKE
something very easy
The test was a piece of cake for her.
BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL
to study/work late at night
He burned the midnight oil before the exam.
A proverb states a general truth or piece of advice in a short, memorable sentence — often with a lesson buried inside it.
📊 Proverb and its true lesson
| Proverb | What it teaches |
|---|---|
| A stitch in time saves nine. | Fix small problems early, before they grow. |
| Actions speak louder than words. | What you do matters more than what you say. |
| Look before you leap. | Think carefully before acting. |
| Where there is a will, there is a way. | Strong determination can overcome any obstacle. |
Olympiad trap: Never confuse the LITERAL scene of a proverb with its lesson — "Look before you leap" is not about jumping; it is about thinking before acting.
A phrasal verb is a verb plus a particle (up, off, in, down…) that together create a brand-new meaning — often nothing like the base verb.
🏆 One verb, many meanings
| Phrasal verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| give up | to stop trying |
| give in | to finally agree, to surrender |
| give away | to reveal a secret, or donate |
| put off | to postpone |
| put up with | to tolerate |
Pro tip: Never assume the particle changes the meaning only slightly — "look up" (to search for information) and "look down on" (to consider inferior) share the verb "look" but mean completely different things.
12 IEO-pattern questions on idioms, proverbs and phrasal verbs, including two Achievers-level questions.
