Expresiones fijas e idioms
Son grupos de palabras que no se cambian: se dice on purpose, no by purpose. En la parte 1 se cambia una palabra de la expresión por otra parecida; en la parte 2 falta la preposición o el artículo, y en la parte 4 una expresión puede ser la clave de la transformación.
56 filas
| Expresión | Significado y ejemplo |
|---|---|
| a piece of cake | pan comido, muy fácil The first exercise was a piece of cake. |
| all of a sudden | de repente All of a sudden, the lights went out. |
| as a matter of fact | de hecho, en realidad As a matter of fact, I've already finished it. |
| as far as I know | que yo sepa As far as I know, the museum opens at ten. |
| at first | al principio At first I found the city confusing. Para enumerar («en primer lugar») se usa first o firstly. |
| at least | al menos It will take at least two hours to get there. |
| at risk | en peligro Thousands of jobs are at risk. |
| be about to | estar a punto de Hurry up, the film is about to start. |
| break the ice | romper el hielo The teacher played a game to break the ice. |
| by accident | sin querer, por casualidad I deleted the file by accident. Mal: for accident. |
| by chance | por casualidad We met by chance at a friend's wedding. |
| by heart | de memoria She learnt the whole poem by heart. |
| by the way | por cierto By the way, did you call your mother? |
| call it a day | dejarlo por hoy We've done enough; let's call it a day. |
| can't help | no poder evitar I couldn't help laughing at his face. Va con -ing. |
| change your mind | cambiar de opinión I was going to stay in, but I changed my mind. |
| come to terms with | aceptar (algo difícil) It took her a long time to come to terms with the loss. |
| cost an arm and a leg | costar un ojo de la cara That new phone cost an arm and a leg. |
| every now and then | de vez en cuando We go to the cinema every now and then. |
| for the time being | de momento, por ahora For the time being, I'm living with my parents. |
| get on someone's nerves | sacar de quicio His constant complaining gets on my nerves. |
| give someone a hand | echar una mano Can you give me a hand with these boxes? |
| have no idea | no tener ni idea I have no idea where I left my keys. |
| in advance | con antelación It's cheaper to book your tickets in advance. |
| in charge of | a cargo de Who is in charge of the project? |
| in common | en común My brother and I don't have much in common. |
| in favour of | a favor de Most students are in favour of the new timetable. |
| in other words | es decir, o sea The flight is full; in other words, we can't go today. |
| in the end | al final, finalmente We looked at ten flats and, in the end, we chose the first one. Al final de algo concreto: at the end of (at the end of the film). |
| in the long run | a la larga It will save you money in the long run. |
| in the same boat | en la misma situación Don't worry, we're all in the same boat. |
| in time | a tiempo (antes de que sea tarde) We got to the station just in time to catch the train. Compara con on time: a la hora prevista, puntual. |
| it's no use | no sirve de nada It's no use complaining; nobody will listen. Va con -ing. |
| keep an eye on | vigilar, echar un ojo a Could you keep an eye on my bag for a minute? |
| keep your fingers crossed | cruzar los dedos I'll keep my fingers crossed for your interview. |
| lose track of | perder la noción de I was so busy that I lost track of time. |
| make ends meet | llegar a fin de mes With two jobs, they can just about make ends meet. |
| make sense | tener sentido Your explanation doesn't make sense. Mal: have sense. |
| make up your mind | decidirte I can't make up my mind which dress to buy. |
| more or less | más o menos The work is more or less finished. |
| no matter what | pase lo que pase I'll support you, no matter what happens. |
| on behalf of | en nombre de I'm writing on behalf of my class. |
| on purpose | a propósito I'm sure he broke the glass on purpose. Mal: by purpose. |
| on the other hand | por otro lado The flat is small; on the other hand, it's very cheap. Suele ir después de on the one hand o de una idea contraria. |
| on the tip of your tongue | en la punta de la lengua His name is on the tip of my tongue. |
| on the whole | en general On the whole, the trip was a success. |
| on time | puntual, a la hora prevista The train arrived on time. |
| out of date | anticuado; caducado This map is completely out of date. |
| out of order | averiado (una máquina) The lift is out of order again. |
| out of the question | imposible, ni hablar A holiday this year is out of the question. |
| so far | hasta ahora So far, we've visited three countries. Suele ir con present perfect. |
| sooner or later | tarde o temprano Sooner or later, you'll have to tell him. |
| take something for granted | dar algo por sentado We often take clean water for granted. |
| the last straw | la gota que colma el vaso After a week of problems, the bus breaking down was the last straw. |
| there's no point in | no tiene sentido There's no point in waiting; the shop is closed. Va con -ing. |
| under pressure | bajo presión Doctors often work under pressure. |
Dónde cae en el examen
- Parte 1 · Multiple-choice cloze , con ejercicios de muestra
- Parte 2 · Open cloze , con ejercicios de muestra
- Parte 4 · Key word transformation , con ejercicios de muestra