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Your English is advanced, but you still don't sound like a native speaker. What's missing? One easy way to recognize a native speaker is by how many idioms and expressions they're using.

For example, a non-native speaker might say, "Let's start the project." But a native speaker might say, "Let's get the ball rolling." Or a non-native speaker might say he knows all the details about that job. But a native speaker might say he knows all the ins and outs of the job. And "ins and outs" is an example of an idiom that native speakers use all the time.

In this video, I will give you a fill-in-the-blank quiz to test your knowledge of some common idioms. Many of these idioms are used in a professional setting, but you will also hear them in everyday conversations. Do you know them? And do you use them? The more of these idioms you know and use, the closer you are to having native fluency. And don't worry if you don't know all of them, if you're not quite there yet. I will explain what each idiom means and I will give you sample sentences so that you can start using them. And then you will hear some native speakers use them as well.

Keep track of your score and let me know at the end how many of them you got right. Okay, let's get started.

1. Cut to the chase

Let's look at the first idiom. Which idiom means to get to the point without wasting time? To talk about an important part of the subject and not waste time with things that are not so important.

The idiom is: to cut to the what? What's the word?

To cut to the chase.

This idiom has an interesting origin. It comes from the early days of Hollywood movies. In some movies, there are a lot of dialogues and maybe they're often boring to the audiences. The most exciting part of the movie is the chase scene, like a car chase or two people chasing each other. And the director would tell the film editors to literally "cut to the chase"—to delete the boring parts of the movie and to jump straight to the chase scene to keep the audience interested and excited. He told them to cut to the chase.

We can say:

"Let's cut to the chase and discuss the main issue."

"Just cut to the chase and tell me what happened. I don't want to hear all the little details, just cut to the chase."

"I didn't want to hear the long story, so I asked him to cut to the chase."

Examples:

"I'm going to cut to the chase and show you exactly what you need."

"So, let's cut to the chase and get straight to it."

"So, unfortunately, to cut to the chase, we haven't seen the dark matter yet."2. Go the extra mile

Let's look at the next idiom. Which idiom means to do more than what is expected in order to help someone? To put in more time or more effort than is required.

The idiom is: to go the extra what? Do you know the answer?

The extra mile. To go the extra mile.

For example, we can say:

"She always goes the extra mile to ensure client satisfaction."

"She got a promotion because she constantly goes the extra mile on every project."

Examples:

"You know, one who has passion, one who's dependable, uh, one who's willing to work hard and go the extra mile, have higher perseverance, and to go the extra mile to help the company succeed."

"I do think they actually go the extra mile to assist us."3. Corner the market

Do you know this idiom? It means to dominate a particular market.

To blank the market. What do we say? What is the verb?

To corner. To corner the market.

You can say:

"They've cornered the market on electric car batteries."

"She's trying to corner the market on handmade jewelry in her city."