Why are idioms important?
“Idioms are the salt and pepper of any language,” says Makkai. “If you don’t have them, you speak a stilted language full of Latinate $500 words.” Why are idioms tested? “The SAT tests for idioms because incorrect ones are the mark of someone who doesn’t speak English perfectly,” says Valerie Frankel, assistant professor of creative writing at San Jose State University in California. “While pronouns can be learned with a grammar rulebook, idioms are nearly impossible to learn except by familiarity with English.” How important are idioms? Given that idioms account for a maximum of only four or five points on the tests, don’t stress too much about them. Don’t spend a great deal of time hunting for idioms on the test. Let them come to you. If something does not sound right, but you can’t quite figure out what the problem is, most likely this is an idiom question with a misplaced word. Is there any way to study for idiom questions? “Idioms are relatively tricky because they require familia
