Idioms: eagerness and reluctance

This comprehensive ESL worksheet is focused on idioms that express eagerness, reluctance, excitement, and determination. This resource is perfect for upper-intermediate and advanced English learners who are ready to enrich their vocabulary and sound more fluent in real-life conversations.
Through a wide range of engaging and communicative activities, learners are introduced to idiomatic expressions such as:

• Can’t wait, am dying to – expressing strong excitement or eagerness
• In no mood for, dragging my feet – showing reluctance or lack of motivation
• Couldn’t bring myself – describing difficulty in doing something unpleasant
• Jump at the chance – showing enthusiasm and willingness to take an opportunity
• Wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole – expressing avoidance or strong dislike
• Like a kid in a candy store, like there’s no tomorrow – describing excitement or energetic behavior
• Where there’s a will, there’s a way – expressing determination and perseverance
• Don’t have the stomach for – indicating discomfort with difficult or unpleasant things

There are 9 activities included in this worksheet, including:
1. Contextual dialogues
Students read short, everyday conversations where idioms are naturally used. These help learners understand meaning through context..

2. Sentence completion exercises
Students complete sentences using idioms from the lesson, applying them to realistic and relatable situations.

3. Multiple-choice questions
Check understanding with short multiple-choice questions that test students’ ability to identify the right idiom for a situation.

4. Speaking prompts and real-life scenarios for discussion
4 activities are focused on speaking, helping students reflect on their own experiences using idioms in guided responses, strengthening fluency and encouraging meaningful communication. There are also “What would you do?” style questions to help learners practice using idioms in a natural, conversational way.

5. Error correction
To review the idioms from this lesson, the worksheet includes an error-correction activity.

There is a set of conversation cards for more speaking practice and review of these idioms related to eagerness and reluctance.