The Oxford English dictionary defines idioms and phrases as:
A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.
Put another way: idioms are sentences that sound ridiculous to everyone but the native speakers who use them.
That’s why it’s always fun to learn idioms in a foreign language. If you randomly bust out one of these idioms in conversation with native speakers, they will be pleasantly surprised.
Then in that moment of surprise, they may realize for the first time just how ridiculous that idiom sounds. Then they will laugh, and think you’re even cooler than you already are.
But you won’t get your desired effect on the audience unless you nail the pronunciation.
That’s why we’ve included slowed down audio and phonetic transcription for 24 idioms in Portuguese, Mandarin, Spanish, Italian, French and German.
If you find yourself struggling with any of the sounds, be sure to download our free Audio PDF pronunciation guide for your target language.
Portuguese Idioms
How to pronounce it: [kẽĩ / n̪ɐ̃ũ / t̪ẽĩ / kɐ̃ũ / ka / sɐ / kõ / ga / t̪ʊ]
When to use it: If someone asks you for something you don’t have
How to pronounce it: [#i / rax / u / ka / va / li / ɲʊ / d̪a / ʃu / vɐ]
Variation:Vou tirar meu cavalinho da chuva (“I’ll take my little horse away from the rain”):
How to pronounce it: [vou / #i / ra / mɛʊ / ka / va / li / ɲʊ / d̪a / ʃu / vɐ]
When to use it: When someone asks you to do something you won’t do
How to pronounce it: [t̪eh / ma / ka / ki / ɲʊs / n̪a / ka / be / sɐ]
Variation: Tenho macaquinhos na cabeça (“I have little monkeys in my head”)
How to pronounce it: [t̪e / ɲʊ / ma / ka / ki / ɲʊs / n̪a / ka / be / sɐ]
When to use it: When someone says something strange
How to pronounce it: [ba / &a / t̪ɐ / t̪ɔn̪ / t̪ɐ]
Variation: Que cara é essa? Parece que você está igual barata tonta! (“What kind of a face it that? You look just like a silly cockroach!”)
How to pronounce it: [ki / ka / &ɐ / ɛ: / sɐ // pa / &ɛ / si / ki / vo / seɪ / st̪a / i / gwaʊ / ba / &a / t̪ɐ / t̪ɔn̪ / t̪ɐ]
When to use it: If you or someone else drops something
Spanish Idioms
How to pronounce it: [gä / t̪o̞ / ko̞ŋ / gwän̪ / t̪e̞ / zno̞ / kä / sä / +ä / t̪o̞ / n̪e̞s]
When to use it: If someone’s not sure whether they can do something in order to reach their goal
How to pronounce it: [se̞ / me̞ / fwe̞ / lä / βjo̞n̪]
When to use it: When someone has asked you to fetch something and you forget
How to pronounce it: [mu / #o̞ /+wi / do̞ / i / po̞ / kä / sn̪we̞ / se̞s]
When to use it: When your friend refuses to get up to get the snacks
How to pronounce it: [e̞ / &e̞ / sbje̞n̪ / ko̞ / do̞]
When to use it: When someone is acting frugally
French Idioms
How to pronounce it: [ʒɛ / d̪o / t̪χ(ə) / ʃa / z̪a / fue / t̪e]
When to use it: When someone asks you to do something you don’t have time for
How to pronounce it: [le / ka / ʁɔt̪ / s̪ɔ / kɥit̪]
When to use it: When it’s too late
How to pronounce it: [d̪ɔ / n̪e / s̪a / lɑ̃ / go / ʃa]
When to use it: When you’re losing a game of ‘guess what’
How to pronounce it: [a / vwaʁ* / lə / mu / t̪aʁ* / d̪ə / ki / mɔ̃ / t̪o / n̪e]
When to use it: When you or someone else is getting mad
Italian Idioms
How to pronounce it: [ä / ve̞ / &e̞ / ʎɔ / ki / fo̞ / de̞ / &ä / ti / di / p+o̞ / ʃu / to̞]
When to use it: When someone can’t find something that’s literally right in front of them
How to pronounce it: [säl / tä / &e̞ / fɔ / si / pe̞ / &i / luŋ / go̞]
When to use it: When someone comments they find something difficult, respond ‘in my day, we jumped ditches the long way’
How to pronounce it: [t+ä / tä / &e̞ / ä / pe̞ / ʃin / fä / #ä]
When to use it: To treat someone rudely
How to pronounce it: [u / b&jä / ko̞ / ko̞ / me̞ / u / nä / ʃi / mjä]
When to use it: Describing how much you had to drink
German Idioms
How to pronounce it: [aʊs / aɪ / nɐ / mʏ / kə / aɪ / n(ə)n / e / lə / fan / ʔtn / ma / xən]
When to use it: If someone is exaggerating a situation
How to pronounce it: [ɪç / glaʊp / maɪn / ʃvaɪn / p͡faɪft]
When to use it: Whenever something surprising happens
How to pronounce it: [a / ləs / hat / aɪn / ɛn / də / nuɐ / di / vʊɐst / hat / ͡tsvaɪ]
When to use it: When you want to sound philosophical in conversation
How to pronounce it: [zi / ʃpil / di / bə / laɪ / dɪç / tə / le / bɐ / vʊɐst]
When to use it: When your sibling refuses to eat their greens
How to pronounce it: [aʊf / aɪ / (nə)m / baɪn / ʃtet / ma / nɪçt / gut]
When to use it: To encourage someone to stay for another beer
Mandarin Chinese Idioms
How to pronounce it: [duì niú tán qín]
When to use it: When you are speaking to someone and it’s falling on deaf ears, it means they don’t understand you. There’s also an element of speaking about something intellectual to someone unintellectual.
How to pronounce it: [huà shé tiān zú]
When to use it: When someone tells you a story with unnecessary details
How to pronounce it: [hún shuǐ mō yú]
When to use it: This has a negative connotation, it refers to a situation where someone is profiting illegally or immorally from a bad situation
Did we miss any of your favorite sayings in other languages? Let us know in the comments below.
