Hardworking Idioms for PSLE English Students

Lets learn “Hardworking” Idioms for PSLE English Students. Idiomatic expressions are the icing on the cake for a well-written piece. They add that extra flavour, making your sentences more interesting and engaging. For PSLE English students, learning and using idioms correctly can make a difference in your scores. This article is designed to provide you with hardworking idioms to help you strive towards achieving your goals. Let’s get started!

Here are 25 advanced idioms related to hard work:

1. To keep one’s shoulder to the wheel: To work hard
2. Break one’s back: To work extremely hard
3. Work one’s fingers to the bone: To work very hard
4. Bear the brunt: To do the most difficult work
5. Carry the ball: To do the work that needs to be done
6. Dig deep: To use a lot of effort to do something
7. Put one’s back into something: To put a lot of effort into doing something
8. Slog away: To work hard over a long period
9. Throw oneself into something: To start to do something with a lot of energy
10. Up one’s game: To start performing better
11. Work like a dog: To work very hard
12. Grind away: To work hard and steadily
13. Keep the ball rolling: To keep things moving or progressing
14. Move heaven and earth: To do everything possible
15. Work one’s socks off: To work very hard
16. Drive oneself into the ground: To make oneself tired and ill by working too hard
17. Leave no stone unturned: To do everything possible to achieve something
18. Work one’s tail off: To work very hard
19. Toil away: To work hard and for a long time
20. Work like a Trojan: To work very hard
21. Knuckle down: To start working hard, especially after a period of not doing much
22. Work one’s guts out: To work extremely hard
23. Slave over something: To work very hard and for a long time on something
24. Give one’s all: To make as much effort as possible
25. Pull one’s weight: To do one’s share of the work

Now, let’s put these idioms into a table to learn its usage easily:

Idiom	Meaning	Example
Keep one’s shoulder to the wheel	To work hard	“Even with the project’s difficulty, she kept her shoulder to the wheel until it was done.”
Break one’s back	To work extremely hard	“He is breaking his back studying for his PSLE.”
Work one’s fingers to the bone	To work very hard	“She worked her fingers to the bone to get the highest marks in class.”
Bear the brunt	To do the most difficult work	“The oldest sibling usually bears the brunt of the household chores.”
Carry the ball	To do the work that needs to be done	“When it comes to group projects, Sam always carries the ball.”
Dig deep	To use a lot of effort to do something	“When preparing for exams, you must dig deep to understand complex concepts.”
Put one’s back into something	To put a lot of effort into doing something	“He put his back into the project and ended up winning first place.”
Slog away	To work hard over a long period	“He has been slogging away at his math problems all day.”
Throw oneself into something	To start to do something with a lot of energy	“Sarah threw herself into her studies and aced the exams.”
Up one’s game	To start performing better	“To achieve his goal, John knew he needed to up his game.”
Work like a dog	To work very hard	“My mother works like a dog to provide for our family.”
Grind away	To work hard and steadily	“She has been grinding away at her studies to ensure she passes.”
Keep the ball rolling	To keep things moving or progressing	“After the initial success, the team kept the ball rolling with new ideas.”
Move heaven and earth	To do everything possible	“He would move heaven and earth to achieve his dreams.”
Work one’s socks off	To work very hard	“She has been working her socks off to prepare for the final exams.”
Drive oneself into the ground	To make oneself tired and ill by working too hard	“Don’t drive yourself into the ground studying; remember to take breaks.”
Leave no stone unturned	To do everything possible to achieve something	“When studying for his exams, he leaves no stone unturned.”
Work one’s tail off	To work very hard	“She worked her tail off to prepare for the PSLE English test.”
Toil away	To work hard and for a long time	“He has been toiling away at his homework since he got home.”
Work like a Trojan	To work very hard	“My father works like a Trojan to keep us comfortable.”
Knuckle down	To start working hard, especially after a period of not doing much	“After the holidays, it was time for the students to knuckle down and focus on studies.”
Work one’s guts out	To work extremely hard	“He worked his guts out to get the project done on time.”
Slave over something	To work very hard and for a long time on something	“She has been slaving over her books for hours.”
Give one’s all	To make as much effort as possible	“In his quest to master English, he gave his all.”
Pull one’s weight	To do one’s share of the work	“In a team, everyone needs to pull their weight to achieve the goal.”

Strategies to Master Idioms

Before we delve into the world of idioms, here are some strategies to help you learn and remember them better:

• Read and Write: Incorporate reading and writing in your daily routine. The more you expose yourself to English texts, the more likely you are to come across idioms.
• Contextual Learning: When you encounter a new idiom, try to understand its meaning based on the context.
• Use Idioms in Sentences: Try using the idioms in your own sentences. This will help you understand the correct context to use them in.
• Flashcards: Create flashcards with the idiom on one side and its meaning on the other. Review these cards regularly.
• Online Practice: Use educational websites that offer idiom practice exercises.

Hardworking Idioms and their Meanings

Now let’s dive into the list of hardworking idioms:

1. Burning the midnight oil: Working late into the night or from early in the morning.
2. Elbow grease: Hard physical work.
3. Hit the ground running: To start a task and maintain speed and productivity from the very beginning.
4. Pull out all the stops: To do everything possible to make something successful.
5. Go the extra mile: To make more effort than is expected of you.
6. Sweat blood: To work extremely hard on something.
7. Keep your nose to the grindstone: To work hard and continuously.
8. Take the bull by the horns: To directly confront a difficult situation.

Using Idioms in Sentences

Now, let’s put these idioms into action:

1. “During exam period, Anna was often found burning the midnight oil, revising her lessons.”
2. “John put a lot of elbow grease into his project, working on it every night after school.”
3. “Sarah always hits the ground running when a new project is assigned.”
4. “To ace the final exams, Tim pulled out all the stops and studied for hours each day.”
5. “The best students are those who are willing to go the extra mile to ensure they fully understand the material.”
6. “Mark has been sweating blood to make sure his science project is the best in class.”
7. “If you want to do well on your PSLE, you must keep your nose to the grindstone.”
8. “He wasn’t sure how to solve the math problem, but decided to take the bull by the horns and give it his best shot.”

Online Resources for Learning Idioms

Mastering idioms requires practice. Thankfully, there are a number of fantastic online resources to help you understand and apply idioms correctly. Here are a few:

1. Idioms and phrases | Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries
2. Idioms Practice | UsingEnglish.com
3. Idioms Exercises | EnglishClub
4. Idiom Test | Learn English Today
5. Idiom Practice Games | Vocabulary.co.id

Remember, the key to mastering idioms is understanding their meanings and knowing when and how to use them correctly. With hard work and perseverance, you’ll become an idiom whiz in no time! Now, go on, take the bull by the horns and start learning some idioms!

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To learn more Top 100 idioms for Primary 6:

The Top 100 Idioms and Phrases for Primary 6 with meaning and examples