Idioms, Punctuation & Sentences
It is not really raining cats and dogs! Learn what idioms truly mean, use every punctuation mark like a pro, tell the four kinds of sentences apart, and turn a jumble of words into a perfect sentence.
1What is an idiom?
An idiom is a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of its single words. If someone says “It’s raining cats and dogs”, no pets are falling from the sky. It means it is raining very heavily. You cannot work out an idiom word by word; you have to learn its meaning.
Idiom questions always include an option that takes the words literally: “very tasty” for a piece of cake, “set a pet free” for letting the cat out of the bag, “animals were falling” for raining cats and dogs. That option is always wrong. Look for the hidden meaning.
2Idiom bank: 36 must-know idioms
Read the meaning, then the example. Try to use two new idioms every day when you talk.
Animal idioms
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| raining cats and dogs | raining very heavily | We stayed indoors because it was raining cats and dogs. |
| let the cat out of the bag | tell a secret, usually by mistake | Ria let the cat out of the bag about the surprise party. |
| a white elephant | something costly to keep but of little use | The huge old car became a white elephant for the family. |
| crocodile tears | false tears; pretending to be sad | He shed crocodile tears when his rival lost. |
| the lion’s share | the biggest part | My brother took the lion’s share of the pizza. |
| a wild goose chase | a useless search for something you cannot find | Looking for the lost ring on the beach was a wild goose chase. |
| smell a rat | suspect that something is wrong | When the shop gave us a free phone, Papa smelt a rat. |
| cry wolf | raise a false alarm | If you cry wolf too often, nobody will believe you. |
| a fish out of water | uncomfortable in a new, unfamiliar place | On her first day at the new school, Isha felt like a fish out of water. |
| kill two birds with one stone | get two things done with one action | I walked to the library and got my exercise: two birds with one stone! |
| as busy as a bee | very busy | Before Diwali, Mummy is as busy as a bee. |
| a dark horse | someone who surprises everyone by winning | The new girl was the dark horse of the quiz and won first prize. |
Food and body idioms
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a piece of cake | very easy | The maths test was a piece of cake. |
| the apple of one’s eye | someone very dear | Little Aarav is the apple of his grandmother’s eye. |
| spill the beans | tell a secret | Don’t spill the beans about Didi’s gift! |
| cry over spilt milk | be sad about something that cannot be undone | The vase is broken; it’s no use crying over spilt milk. |
| in a nutshell | in a few words, briefly | In a nutshell, the story is about courage. |
| selling like hot cakes | selling very fast | The new comic books are selling like hot cakes. |
| break the ice | start a friendly talk when people are shy | The teacher told a joke to break the ice. |
| get cold feet | feel nervous and want to back out | Sam got cold feet just before going on stage. |
| all ears | listening eagerly | Tell me the story; I am all ears. |
| lend a hand | help | Please lend a hand with these boxes. |
| pull someone’s leg | tease or joke with someone | Don’t worry, I was only pulling your leg. |
| learn by heart | memorise | We learnt the poem by heart. |
| see eye to eye | agree completely | The two captains did not see eye to eye on the plan. |
| turn a deaf ear | refuse to listen | He turned a deaf ear to all our warnings. |
Time, luck and other idioms
| Idiom | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| once in a blue moon | very rarely | My uncle visits us once in a blue moon. |
| at the eleventh hour | at the very last moment | He finished his project at the eleventh hour. |
| burn the midnight oil | work or study late into the night | Before exams, Didi burns the midnight oil. |
| call it a day | stop working for now | We have painted enough; let’s call it a day. |
| under the weather | feeling unwell | I stayed home because I was under the weather. |
| a feather in one’s cap | an achievement to be proud of | Winning the olympiad medal was a feather in her cap. |
| in hot water | in trouble | He was in hot water for breaking the window. |
| beat about the bush | avoid the main point | Stop beating about the bush and tell me what happened. |
| a blessing in disguise | something that seemed bad but turned out good | Missing the bus was a blessing in disguise: I found my lost book. |
| over the moon | extremely happy | She was over the moon with her gift. |
Several idioms share one meaning. Let the cat out of the bag and spill the beans both mean “tell a secret”. Once in a blue moon means rarely, but over the moon means very happy. Don’t mix up two idioms just because they share a word.
What does the idiom mean? Rahul submitted his form at the eleventh hour.
Which idiom means something costly to keep but of little use?
3Punctuation marks and capital letters
Punctuation marks are the traffic signals of writing. They tell the reader where to stop, pause, ask or feel.
| Mark | When to use it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| . full stop | End of a statement or a request/command; also indirect questions | I live in Pune. Please sit down. |
| ? question mark | End of a direct question | Where do you live? |
| ! exclamation mark | Strong feeling (joy, surprise, fear, anger); after interjections | What a beautiful rainbow! Hurray! Ouch! |
| ’ apostrophe | Missing letters (contractions) and ownership (possession) | It’s late. Riya’s bag. |
| “ ” inverted commas | The exact words someone spoke (direct speech) | Ravi said, “I am hungry.” |
| - hyphen | Joins words into one idea | a well-known singer, twenty-five, mother-in-law |
Comma rules
- Lists: I bought apples, bananas, grapes and mangoes. (In British English we usually don’t put a comma before the last and.)
- After Yes, No, Well, Oh at the start: Yes, I will come to the party. No, thank you.
- When you speak to someone by name: Riya, please close the door. Come here, Arjun.
- Around extra information about a noun (apposition): Sudha, my neighbour, is a doctor.
- After an opening word or phrase: Suddenly, the lights went out. After lunch, we played chess.
- Before direct speech: Mother said, “Wash your hands.”
- In dates and addresses: 15 August, 1947 · New Delhi, India · Dear Grandma,
Never put a comma between the subject and its verb, or between a verb and its object. ✗ The dog, barked loudly. ✗ I have, a red pen. ✗ We went to, the zoo. ✓ The dog barked loudly.
The apostrophe
Contractions (missing letters)
it is → it’s · do not → don’t · cannot → can’t · I am → I’m · they are → they’re · let us → let’s · will not → won’t (special!) · who is → who’s
Possession (belongs to)
one girl → the girl’s bag · one cat → the cat’s tail · many girls → the girls’ hostel · my parents’ room · plural without s → children’s park, men’s shoes, women’s team
It’s always means it is or it has: It’s raining outside. Its (no apostrophe) means belonging to it: The dog wagged its tail. Test: if you can say “it is” in its place, use it’s. Also, never use an apostrophe just to make a plural: ✗ The cat’s are sleeping. ✓ The cats are sleeping.
Inverted commas (quotation marks)
Put only the exact spoken words inside inverted commas. Start the spoken words with a capital letter, and keep the end punctuation inside the closing mark.
- Ravi said, “I am hungry.”
- “Where are you going?” asked Mother.
- “What a lovely kite!” exclaimed Meena.
Which sentence is punctuated correctly?
Capital letters
| Use a capital letter for… | Examples |
|---|---|
| the first word of every sentence | The sun is hot. |
| the word I | Rohit and I are friends. |
| names of people and pets | Kabir, Dr Kalam, Bholu |
| names of places, rivers, mountains, buildings | Agra, the Ganga, Mount Everest, the Taj Mahal |
| days, months, festivals | Monday, July, Diwali, Eid, Christmas |
| languages and nationalities | Hindi, English, Indian |
| important words in titles of books and films | The Jungle Book |
| the first spoken word inside inverted commas | She said, “The bus is late.” |
Seasons do not take a capital letter in British English: summer, winter, monsoon. Common nouns such as market, school, river don’t either, unless they are part of a name (the Ganga river but Delhi Public School).
Which word should NOT begin with a capital letter? we visited the taj mahal in agra last summer.
Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly?
4The indirect question trap
A direct question gives the exact words of the question, so it ends with a question mark. An indirect question only reports that someone asked something. It is a statement, so it ends with a full stop.
| Direct question → ? | Indirect question → . |
|---|---|
| “Where do you live?” | He asked me where I lived. |
| Sudha asked, “Where does your father work?” | Sudha, my neighbour, asked where my father worked. |
| “Is the shop open?” | I wonder whether the shop is open. |
| “What is your name?” asked the teacher. | The teacher wanted to know my name. |
The word asked or a question word like where tricks students into choosing a question mark. Check the word order: a real question turns the verb around (Where does he work?). An indirect question keeps normal statement order (…where he works.). ✗ She asked where I was going? ✓ She asked where I was going.
Which punctuation mark should end this sentence? The tourist asked us how far the railway station was
5Four kinds of sentences
Every sentence does one of four jobs: it tells, asks, orders or exclaims.
| Kind | Job | Ends with | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Declarative (also called assertive) | makes a statement; can be positive or negative | . | I finished my lunch. Rohan does not like milk. |
| Interrogative | asks a direct question; often starts with who, what, where, when, why, how or a helping verb (is, do, can, will) | ? | Did you finish your lunch? Where is my pencil? |
| Imperative | gives an order, request, advice or instruction; the subject you is hidden | . (or ! for a strong order) | Please pass me the salt. Close the door. Stop! |
| Exclamatory | shows strong feeling; often starts with What a… or How… | ! | What a beautiful rainbow! How tall you have grown! |
- “What a beautiful rainbow!” starts with What but is exclamatory, not a question. Look at the end mark and the feeling.
- “Please pass me the salt.” is imperative. Adding please makes it polite, but it is still a request.
- “Stop!” ends with ! but it is still imperative: it gives an order.
What kind of sentence is this? Always tell the truth.
6Subject and predicate
Every sentence has two parts. The subject is the person or thing the sentence is about. The predicate is what we say about the subject; it always contains the verb.
| Sentence | Subject | Predicate |
|---|---|---|
| Birds fly. | Birds | fly |
| My little brother loves chocolate. | My little brother | loves chocolate |
| The honeybee visits hundreds of flowers. | The honeybee | visits hundreds of flowers |
| Down came the rain. | the rain | down came |
| Open the window. | (You) — hidden | open the window |
The subject is not always first! In “Down came the rain” ask “What came down?” → the rain. In a question, turn it into a statement first: “Is Meera coming?” → Meera is coming → subject Meera.
7Jumbled words and sentence order
Olympiad papers give you jumbled parts marked P, Q, R, S and ask for the right order. English sentences follow a fixed order, which is your secret weapon.
Arrange: (P) a letter (Q) wrote (R) to her grandmother (S) Anjali
- Find the subject: who is doing something? Anjali (S). A name with a capital letter is a strong starting clue.
- Find the verb: what did she do? wrote (Q).
- Find the object: what did she write? a letter (P).
- Add the rest: to whom? to her grandmother (R).
- Read it aloud: Anjali wrote a letter to her grandmother. → S Q P R ✓
Strategies for jumbled words
- A word with a capital letter (not a name) usually starts the sentence. A part with a full stop ends it.
- Article + adjective + noun stay together: the red roses, a tiny puppy.
- Helping verb + main verb stay together: are blooming, has finished.
- In a question, the helping verb or question word comes first: Where / are / you / going → Where are you going?
- Use elimination: check the first two letters of each option. If an option cannot start that way, cross it out without reading the rest.
Putting sentences in order
Sometimes you must order whole sentences to make a short story or paragraph. Look for:
- Time words: First, One day, Then, Next, After that, Finally, At last.
- Pronouns: a sentence with he, she, it, they must come after the sentence that names the person or thing.
- Cause before effect: It rained heavily. comes before The roads were flooded.
- Steps of a process in the order they happen: wash the rice → soak it → cook it → serve it.
Arrange the parts to make a meaningful sentence: (P) the ball (Q) Rohit (R) over the wall (S) kicked
8Watch and explore
- 📖Using apostrophes for contractionsbbc.co.uk/bitesize · it’s, don’t, can’t
- 📖How to use possessive apostrophesbbc.co.uk/bitesize · girl’s or girls’?
- 📖How to use inverted commasbbc.co.uk/bitesize · punctuate direct speech
- 📖How to use commas in a listbbc.co.uk/bitesize · short lesson and quiz
- 📖Idiomsimple.wikipedia.org · what idioms are, with examples
- 🎮Punctuation practicekhanacademy.org · end marks, commas, apostrophes
9Quick recap
- An idiom’s meaning is different from its words. The literal option is always a trap.
- Piece of cake = very easy · raining cats and dogs = raining heavily · once in a blue moon = very rarely.
- Let the cat out of the bag = spill the beans = tell a secret · apple of one’s eye = someone very dear.
- Full stop ends statements, requests and indirect questions; ? ends only direct questions.
- Comma after Yes/No, in lists, around apposition, before direct speech; never between subject and verb.
- Apostrophe for contractions (it’s = it is) and possession (Riya’s, girls’, children’s). Its = belonging to it.
- Exact spoken words go inside inverted commas.
- Capitals: sentence start, I, names, places, days, months, festivals, languages. Seasons stay small.
- Four kinds: declarative (tells .), interrogative (asks ?), imperative (orders/requests), exclamatory (feels !).
- Subject = who/what the sentence is about; predicate = what is said about it (has the verb).
- Jumbled parts: Subject → Verb → Object → Place → Time. Keep “article + adjective + noun” together.
- Sentence order: time words, pronouns after names, cause before effect.