Idioms: beginnings and endings

This worksheet explores English idioms related to beginnings, endings, and major life transitions. It guides learners through real-world dialogues, story-based tasks, and personalised reflection prompts. Each activity helps students understand how these idiomatic expressions are used naturally in conversation, writing, and decision-making contexts.

Activities Overview

Activity 1: Students read a dialogue featuring idioms about beginnings and endings (e.g., back to square one, ran its course, close the chapter, start from scratch / throw in the towel, turn over a new leaf), then match each highlighted expression to its correct definition.

Activity 2: Learners read short real-life situations and complete the given sentences using the appropriate idiom from a provided list.

Activity 3: Open-ended discussion questions encourage students to use the new idioms to talk about their own experiences, helping reinforce understanding through personal context.

Activity 4: A workplace-themed dialogue introduces a new set of idioms related to starting or ending projects (e.g., pull the plug, the end of an era, plant the seed, take the plunge, break new ground). Students then match each expression to its definition.

Activity 5: A short narrative uses the idioms in context. This allows students to see how the expressions appear in extended writing.

Activity 6: Students rewrite sentences by replacing underlined phrases with the correct idioms, strengthening paraphrasing skills and vocabulary recall.

Activity 7: Final discussion questions prompt learners to reflect on life changes, decisions, and past experiences using the new expressions naturally and confidently.

For more speaking practice, and to review these idioms, you can use the printable conevrsation cards.