9 Idioms Non-native English Speakers Should Know

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How long have you been trying to speak or write like a native English speaker? Most non-native speakers want to sound like native English speakers in the first place.

Are you curious how I know this? Well, I also try to write and speak like a native speaker. I don’t think I’m there yet, but I’m trying.

Ryan, however, thinks that I write like a native English speaker. We all have a friend who blindly supports us no matter what. Isn’t it?

He is an excellent blogger himself and author of over 100 ebooks. Check out his fantastic blog called Blogging From Paradise.

Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links in the blog post could be affiliate links, which means we’d earn commissions if you buy the products, but it won’t cost you any extra money. Please read the disclosure page for more details.

Last year, I wrote a blog post about phrases to sound like a native speaker. It didn’t do very well at the beginning, but after a few Google updates, the blog post took off. It turns out, people liked that blog post and Google kept on sending the traffic.

So I thought to come up with another blog post to help my non-native English-speaking friends with a bunch of idioms to use in blogging or writing in general.

Let’s get to the point.

idioms to sound like a native speaker

9 Idioms Non-native English Speakers Should Know

Here we go:

1. I’m all ears

When you’re ready to listen to someone and want to express your desire to listen to what they have to say, you’d say “I’m all ears.”

2. Put flesh on the bones

When you want to suggest adding more details to a plan or idea, you could say put some flesh on the bones.

3. Stop beating around the bush

It’s an idiom people use when someone keeps talking about irrelevant things instead of coming on the agenda. As a result, someone could say this, “could you please stop beating around the bush and come to the point?”

4. Talk of the town

When news is widely spread or a thing is being discussed everywhere, it could be said the talk of the town. For instance, whenever a Royal wedding is held in Great Britain, it becomes the talk of the town.

5. Going to town

Going to town is often said when someone is doing something enthusiastically. One can look at the person and express their views by saying this idiom. For instance, if a mechanic is fixing the car with passion, the customer could say that the mechanic is going to town.

6. Like the sound of something

This idiom is used when a person doesn’t feel good about a person, place, idea, or event. For example, if a daughter invites her boyfriend over, and if parents don’t like the guy, they could politely say, we don’t like the sound of this guy.

7. Hit the ground running

Hit the ground running means be prepared for something and proceed with passion and enthusiasm. For instance, a football coach can tell his team that I want every player to hit the ground running as soon as the game begins.

8. Keep your end of the bargain

It’s used to remind the commitment someone has made to you and make sure that they also keep their promise once you deliver what they asked for in the bargain.

9. Throw a bone

To entice someone to take action by giving them something worth paying attention to before giving the actual thing. For instance, if you’re going to teach your dog a new trick and you have boiled chicken pieces in your pocket, you might want to give him one piece just to get his attention.

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What’s Your Favorite Idiom from the List?

Most of the readers here might be non-native English speakers, and that’s what the intended audience of this blog post is.

I want to know something from you guys.

Was there any idiom on the list that you didn’t hear or read before?

I’d love to know if there was.

Please let me know in the comment below.