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Expresiones idiomáticas en inglés

Aprende expresiones idiomáticas inglesas con ejemplos y una actividad de práctica.

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Diez expresiones idiomáticas, cada una en una frase de ejemplo. Elige el significado correcto entre cuatro opciones.

Grupo:

98 common English idioms

TemaGrupo

Expresión idiomática	Significado	Ejemplo
a piece of cake	muy fácil	The exam was a piece of cake.
actions speak louder than words	lo que haces importa más que lo que dices	He promised to help, but actions speak louder than words.
beat around the bush	evitar decir algo directamente	Stop beating around the bush and tell me what happened.
better late than never	más vale hacerlo tarde que no hacerlo	He finally replied to my email. Better late than never!
break the ice	hacer que la gente se sienta cómoda cuando se conoce	He told a funny story to break the ice.
call it a day	dejar de trabajar por hoy	It's six o'clock. Let's call it a day.
cost an arm and a leg	ser muy caro	That new phone costs an arm and a leg.
don't judge a book by its cover	no juzgar por las apariencias	The café looks old, but don't judge a book by its cover; the food is great.
easier said than done	fácil de decir y difícil de hacer	"Just stop worrying." "That's easier said than done."
get the hang of something	aprender a hacer algo	Driving is hard at first, but you'll get the hang of it.
give someone a hand	ayudar a alguien	Can you give me a hand with these boxes?
hang in there	no te rindas	Hang in there; the exams are almost over.
in the same boat	en la misma situación difícil	Don't worry about being new; we're all in the same boat.
keep an eye on	vigilar con atención	Can you keep an eye on my bag for a minute?
keep in touch	seguir en contacto con alguien	Let's keep in touch after the course ends.
kill two birds with one stone	conseguir dos cosas con una sola acción	I walk to work, so I kill two birds with one stone: exercise and no traffic.
make a long story short	contar algo brevemente	To make a long story short, we missed the plane.
no pain, no gain	hay que esforzarse para conseguir algo	Training every morning is hard, but no pain, no gain.
once in a blue moon	muy de vez en cuando	We only eat out once in a blue moon.
out of the blue	de repente y sin esperarlo	He called me out of the blue after ten years.
pull someone's leg	bromear con alguien, tomarle el pelo	Relax, I'm just pulling your leg.
speak of the devil	se dice cuando aparece la persona de la que se estaba hablando	Speak of the devil! We were just talking about you.
take it easy	relajarse, no preocuparse ni esforzarse demasiado	You've worked all week; take it easy this weekend.
time flies	el tiempo pasa muy rápido	Time flies when you're having fun.
time is money	perder tiempo es perder dinero	Let's start the meeting; time is money.
under pressure	sentirse agobiado por las exigencias	She works well under pressure.
under the weather	sentirse un poco enfermo	I'm feeling a bit under the weather today.
you can say that again	estoy totalmente de acuerdo	"It's freezing today." "You can say that again!"
a blessing in disguise	algo que parece malo pero acaba saliendo bien	Losing that job was a blessing in disguise.
a drop in the ocean	una cantidad muy pequeña en comparación con lo necesario	Our donation is a drop in the ocean, but it helps.
all ears	escuchar con mucha atención y ganas	Tell me everything; I'm all ears.
back to square one	volver al principio	The deal fell through, so we're back to square one.
best of both worlds	las ventajas de dos cosas distintas	Working from home two days a week gives me the best of both worlds.
bite off more than you can chew	intentar hacer más de lo que puedes	With three jobs, she has bitten off more than she can chew.
bite the bullet	hacer algo desagradable que llevabas evitando	I hate the dentist, but I bit the bullet and booked an appointment.
break a leg	buena suerte (se dice a quienes actúan)	Break a leg tonight! You'll be great.
cry over spilt milk	lamentarse por algo que ya no se puede cambiar	The money is gone; there's no use crying over spilt milk.
cut corners	hacer algo de forma barata o deficiente para ahorrar tiempo o dinero	The builders cut corners, and now the roof leaks.
cut to the chase	ir al grano	Let's cut to the chase: how much does it cost?
every cloud has a silver lining	de toda situación mala puede salir algo bueno	I missed my flight but met an old friend at the airport. Every cloud has a silver lining.
face the music	aceptar las consecuencias de tus actos	He broke the window, and now he has to face the music.
feel like a fish out of water	sentirse incómodo en una situación nueva	At my first business dinner, I felt like a fish out of water.
get cold feet	ponerse nervioso y querer cancelar un plan	He got cold feet the day before the wedding.
get out of hand	volverse imposible de controlar	The party got out of hand and the neighbours called the police.
get something off your chest	hablar de algo que te preocupa	Thanks for listening; I needed to get that off my chest.
go the extra mile	esforzarse más de lo esperado	The hotel staff always go the extra mile for their guests.
have a lot on your plate	tener muchas cosas de las que ocuparse	I can't help this week; I have a lot on my plate.
have second thoughts	empezar a dudar de una decisión	I'm having second thoughts about moving to London.
hit the books	estudiar mucho	I can't come out tonight; I need to hit the books.
hit the nail on the head	describir exactamente lo acertado	You hit the nail on the head: the problem is the price.
hit the road	irse, emprender un viaje	It's getting late; we should hit the road.
in hot water	en apuros	He's in hot water for missing the meeting.
in the nick of time	justo antes de que sea demasiado tarde	The ambulance arrived in the nick of time.
it's not rocket science	no es difícil de entender	Just follow the instructions; it's not rocket science.
it's raining cats and dogs	llover a cántaros	Take an umbrella; it's raining cats and dogs.
keep your chin up	mantener el ánimo en una situación difícil	Keep your chin up; things will get better.
learn the ropes	aprender a hacer un trabajo	It took me a month to learn the ropes at my new job.
let the cat out of the bag	revelar un secreto por accidente	We planned a surprise party, but my brother let the cat out of the bag.
make ends meet	tener justo el dinero necesario para vivir	With prices rising, many families struggle to make ends meet.
miss the boat	perder una oportunidad por tardar demasiado	Tickets sold out in an hour; I missed the boat.
on cloud nine	sumamente feliz	She's been on cloud nine since she got the job.
on the fence	indeciso	I'm still on the fence about buying a car.
on the same page	estar de acuerdo	Let's discuss the plan so we're all on the same page.
on thin ice	en una situación arriesgada	After being late again, he's on thin ice with his boss.
once and for all	de una vez por todas	Let's solve this problem once and for all.
play it by ear	decidir sobre la marcha, sin un plan	We don't know the weather yet, so let's play it by ear.
pull yourself together	calmarse y controlar las emociones	Pull yourself together; we need you to focus.
rule of thumb	una regla general práctica	As a rule of thumb, save ten percent of what you earn.
save for a rainy day	guardar dinero para cuando puedas necesitarlo	My grandmother taught me to save for a rainy day.
see eye to eye	estar de acuerdo con alguien	My sister and I don't always see eye to eye.
sit on the fence	no decantarse por ninguna opción	You can't sit on the fence forever; you have to decide.
sleep on it	esperar hasta el día siguiente para decidir	Don't answer now; sleep on it and tell me tomorrow.
spill the beans	contar un secreto	Come on, spill the beans! Who is she?
the ball is in your court	te toca decidir o actuar	I've made my offer; now the ball is in your court.
the last straw	el último problema que vuelve insoportable una situación	The broken heater was the last straw; we moved out.
the tip of the iceberg	una pequeña parte de un problema mucho mayor	These complaints are just the tip of the iceberg.
think outside the box	pensar de forma creativa	We need to think outside the box to solve this.
throw in the towel	rendirse	After three failed attempts, he threw in the towel.
up in the air	todavía sin decidir	Our holiday plans are still up in the air.
when pigs fly	nunca	He'll clean his room when pigs fly.
a penny for your thoughts	¿en qué estás pensando?	You look serious. A penny for your thoughts?
add insult to injury	empeorar una situación mala	My flight was cancelled, and to add insult to injury, they lost my bag.
burn the midnight oil	trabajar hasta muy entrada la noche	She burned the midnight oil to finish her thesis.
by the skin of your teeth	por muy poco	We caught the train by the skin of our teeth.
give someone the benefit of the doubt	creer a alguien aunque no estés seguro	His story sounded strange, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
go back to the drawing board	volver a empezar a planificar porque el primer plan falló	The design didn't work, so it's back to the drawing board.
go Dutch	repartirse el coste de una comida	On our first date, we decided to go Dutch.
ignorance is bliss	no saber algo puede hacerte más feliz	I don't want to know how many calories this has. Ignorance is bliss.
jump on the bandwagon	sumarse a algo porque está de moda	Every company jumped on the bandwagon and launched an app.
let sleeping dogs lie	evitar hablar de un problema pasado	They argued years ago; it's better to let sleeping dogs lie.
see the light at the end of the tunnel	ver que una etapa difícil está llegando a su fin	After months of repairs, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
steal the show	ser quien más destaca en un evento	The youngest dancer stole the show.
take something with a grain of salt	no creerse algo del todo	Take his advice with a grain of salt; he's never done it himself.
the best thing since sliced bread	una idea o invento nuevo excelente	My dad thinks his new coffee machine is the best thing since sliced bread.
the elephant in the room	un problema evidente del que nadie quiere hablar	Nobody mentioned the budget cuts, the elephant in the room.
twist someone's arm	convencer a alguien para que haga algo	I didn't want dessert, but she twisted my arm.
under the table	a escondidas y, a menudo, de forma ilegal	He was paid under the table.
you can't have your cake and eat it	no se pueden tener a la vez dos cosas buenas que se excluyen mutuamente	You want a big house and no mortgage? You can't have your cake and eat it.

Cómo funciona

Las expresiones idiomáticas suelen tener un sentido global que no se deduce traduciendo cada palabra por separado.

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Busca expresiones o filtra la lista por tema.
Lee el ejemplo para entender el sentido de cada expresión en contexto.
Inicia el cuestionario y elige el significado que encaja.

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