Idioms: frequency

This ESL worksheet focuses on common idioms and expressions of frequency. It introduces key expressions that describe how often things happen and shows how they are used in realistic contexts. Through a series of activities, learners are guided from recognising idioms in context to using them accurately in sentences and personal discussion.

Activities Overview

Activity 1 – Reading and matching idioms to definitions
Learners read a short text about a café owner’s daily routine. Several frequency idioms appear in context. Students match each idiom to its correct definition, helping them understand meaning through usage rather than translation.

Activity 2 – Choosing the correct idiom in sentences
Learners complete multiple-choice sentences by selecting the correct frequency expression. This activity checks understanding of meaning and encourages learners to notice how each idiom fits grammatically into a sentence.

Activity 3 and 4– Personal statements: True or False
Learners read statements about routines and habits and decide whether each one is true or false for their own life. They then discuss their choices with a partner, using the target expressions to give additional information. Then, students wrote their own sentences with the terget expressions.

Activity 5 –  Reading short dialogues
Learners read a set of short, everyday dialogues containing the rest of the frequency expressions (e.g., nine times out of ten, time and time again, once-in-a-lifetime). The focus is on recognising how the idioms are used naturally in spoken English. Learners match frequency idioms to their definitions.

Activity 6 – Completing dialogues with expressions
Learners complete a gap-fill activity, which focuses on accurate selection and reinforces differences between similar idioms.

Activity 7 and 8– Discussion questions using frequency idioms
Learners discuss opinion-based questions and are required to include specific frequency expressions in their answers. This encourages controlled speaking practice with clear language targets. Finally, learners respond to prompts about their routines, habits, problems, and experiences.

For more speaking practice, you can use the printable conversation cards.