Summary of idiomatic expressions

Last updated: 13 Oct 2008

In this tutorial, we have seen what idiomatic expression problems look like, and the strategies to best deal with them.

As well, we have looked at the list of common Idiomatic Expressions that you find in the GMAT exam, and have taken a quiz to test our familiarity with those phrases.

Here is some general advice for when you think you have an Idiomatic Expression problem. DON'T PANIC. Many people, especially those who are not native speakers of English, give up when they believe they have an Idiomatic problem.

Instead, follow these steps:

1. Identify the problem as Idiomatic. A) Do the prepositions change among the answer choices? B) Is the problem shorter than most?
2. Find the verb before the changing preposition. Eliminate the verb-preposition combinations that are not idiomatic.
3. Choose the verb-preposition combination that sounds best. With luck, you will have studied the list offered here, and you will be prepared for all of the Idiomatic problems that will come up.

Further reading

You may also find the following useful.

• A longer list of GMAT idioms from Prachi
• A comprehensive list of idiomatic expressions used in the GMAT from 800Score
  

Please contact us if you know of any other useful idiomatic expressions resources that we should list here.

Revision

Learn the list of common GMAT idiomatic expressions that you saw earlier in the tutorial.

Next page: Practice Questions