COLLOCATIONS AND IDIOMS


1.      Complete the idioms with the following words and give the Czech meaning:

shot, ocean, block, handle, pie


All the promises these politicians make! It’s just ……………. in the sky.

The small amount of money donated is just a drop in the …… compared with the vast sum we need.

When I told her she just flew off the ………….. and shouted at me.

His father was a gambler too. He’s a real chip off the old …………….

I wasn’t really sure … I guessed it … it was just a …………………. in the dark.


2.      Use the following idiomatic expressions in example sentences and give their corresponding
Czech equivalents:
e.g. ‘be in a tearing hurry’ (Sorry, I can’t stop for a while because I’m in a tearing hurry.)


child’s play, hold your horses, give or take, hold your tongue, odds and ends

a head like a sieve, a good head for figures, one’s head in the clouds

scared stiff, eat a horse, at death’s door, as fit as a fiddle, be over the moon, feel down


3.      Match the following opposites and use them in example sentences:
e.g., in sight X out of sight:  ‘The lion was just in sight.’ OPP out of sight


out of tune                                                                 out of order

off duty                                                                     on purpose

by accident                                                                under control

in season                                                                    in tune

in working order                                                        on duty

out of control                                                             out of season




4. Fill in the missing words:


He went into a café and asked if he could …………………. the phone.

He asked me if he could …………………….. a phone call.

He dialed the …………………….. and waited.

You can submit the assignment either typed or ……………….. written.

He was walking ………………………….. the 5^th Avenue, singing.

He was driving ………………… the M5.


shut the ………., open the …………, write a …………., drive a ………….., raise your …………




5. Use the following in sentences:


DO: the housework, some gardening, the washing up, homework, your best, the shopping

MAKE: a suggestion, a decision, a cup of tea, war, love, a phone call, a mistake, bed, noise

COME TO: an agreement, a conclusion, an end

COME INTO: bloom, flower, a fortune, operation, view, existence, fashion

PUT: all your eggs in one basket, two and two together, something in a nutshell

SET: on fire, a good example




6. Find Czech equivalents for the following English proverbs:


Don’t count your chicken before they hatch.

Never judge a book by its cover.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth.

Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves.

Don’t throw pearls before swine.

When the cat’s away, the mice will play.

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

One swallow doesn’t make a summer.

There is no smoke without fire.

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

Many hands make light work.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

All that glitters is not gold.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Birds of a feather flock together.

Look before you leap.

Morning is wiser than evening.

Strike while iron is hot.

Fortune favors the bold.

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

Where there’s a will there’s a way.


7. List some examples of multi-word expressions (collocations and idioms) used in Czech that
reflect the current situation (covid-19 and Russia-Ukrainian war):