8 English Idioms to learn BY heart!

What do you know "by heart"? Who did you call "by accident"? When will you make something "by hand"? Learn eight easy, everyday idioms in English, all starting with "by". These expressions can be heard at home, at school, and at work, so understanding them is a must, and using them is even better. Learn to do both, confidently and clearly. Let's start now!

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TRANSCRIPT

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid and today we have another lesson on idioms. "What? Another lesson on idioms?" Yes, because you can never learn enough idioms. Why? Because they're everywhere. Right? They're at school, they're at work, they're when you go out to parties. People are using idioms everywhere. Also, when you're watching TV, or watching a drama, you're watching sports, you hear them all over the place. The sooner you learn idioms, the more advanced your English will be, the more comfortable you'll feel around people because people use them and you understand what they're saying. Okay? All right. So today we're going to focus on eight idioms, not three, eight, eight-okay?-idioms that all start with the word "by". All right? So, let's get started.

The first one: "by heart". Okay? Now, first of all, I've written all of the idioms here. These are the meanings, but they are all mixed up, so don't look there. Okay? You need to listen to me, and then we'll check later. All right? Let's do it like that.

So, the first one: "by heart". What does it mean to know something or learn something by heart, by heart? It means from your memory, to know it just like that. For example, when you were a child-right?-you learned nursery rhymes probably, little poems that people teach children, and now if I ask you, you probably know them even though you might not have said them for years, you know them by heart. Okay? You know them from memory. All right, good.

The next one: "by hand". When you say that somebody made something by hand, it literally means by hand, not by machine, that's the main point, so whether it's embroidery, whether it's making something out of wood, or making something out of stone, you made it by hand. Okay? It was not made by machine. All right.

The next one, now, here there are two expressions that pretty much mean the same thing, so you might hear someone saying: "by chance" or "by coincidence". And what does that mean? That means something happened accidentally, without any planning. All right? And you were walking down the street, and by chance you met your old teacher, Rebecca, from engVid. "I remember you." Okay, all right, so that happened by chance or by coincidence. All right?

And the last one here is: "by mistake" or "by accident". All right. So, have you ever called someone that wasn't the person you meant to call, you were trying to call? So then you called that number by mistake or by accident. That means you didn't plan to do it, it wasn't on purpose, it was a mistake. All right?

So, now let's review them a little bit. So, if you did something without planning, just happened, then which one of these idioms describes that?

It would be "by chance". Okay? There was no planning involved, it happened by chance or by coincidence. All right.

The next one, not on purpose. Okay? You didn't make that... Dial that wrong number on purpose.

You did it "by mistake" or "by accident" so when someone says: "Hello. Yes?" And you say: "Oh, I'm sorry, I called you by mistake." Okay? Or: "I called you by accident." All right.

The next one, if something is not made by machine, then it is usually made "by hand". Okay? Good.

And if you know something from memory, that means you know it "by heart". All right. Good. Okay?

Let's go on, here. Now: "by the book". What does it mean when someone is the kind of person who goes by the book? When they say "the book", they're kind of referring to the book of rules, the book of laws. Okay? So, a person who goes by the book is a person who follows rules very strictly. All of us know people like this. Some people are more relaxed about rules, and some people are very strict about the rules. And those kind of people who are very strict or who are following the rules very strictly or applying them very strictly are called... We say they are going by the book. All right? Got it? Good.

Now, another expression, it's a very commonly used one: "by and large". Okay? "By and large, how's the weather today? Is it a good day where you are, is it sunny, is it rainy"? "By and large" means on the whole, very generally, in general.

[duoduopeng]

The best of the best Teacher Rebecca. love your detailedly English teaching for me to learn how to teach. Super Awesome.

[bereketmulue]

You are the best teacher Rebecca.I have been learning a lot of words and other, when you learn slowly and perfectly. Your accent is easy to understand..you work very hard to make easy . thanks so much

[mariabejaranomonge]

I also love your Canadian accent, Rebecca. You speak very clear and your way of explain the lesson makes it easy to understand . Thanks a lot! 😊

[laeternidad]

Nothing beats learning idioms which is a good way for people to go natural at the time of speaking.
Thank you so much for teaching us all that important vocabulary.
I must tell students that making connections is pretty necessary. It's not only the way you learn, in this case, idioms by heart, but also by making association between one word and the others.
I'm indebted to you, teacher Rebbeca.
Good luck!

[diegomarshall]

Thanks to you, Rebecca, my vocabulary has grown "by leaps and bounds". Terrific class! From Buenos Aires, Argentina, all my best for you!

[shauryaveersinhsolanki]

I heard by word of mouth that you are the best English teacher 😊

[manarfardouss]

I improve my english by leaps and bounds with your videos. By the way, i came across one of your videos many yeras ago, and it left me a good impression about your ability to teach english easily and cheerfuly, and i when i have decided to learn English again ultimately, i looked for your videos again, feeling that it wouldn't be easy for me or for anyone else to forget your cheerful voice and face. I regret the fact that i have neglected english for so many years up till now, since i got my BA degree in 1992. 😟 your pronunciation recalls me of my teachers at the moroccan university where i used to study 😀 thank you Rebecca 😍🌷

[croatiaoutdoors]

Rebecca you are one of the most talented teacher I’ve ever met. Your class is really joyful and I’ve learned so many new words and phrases just watching you. I’m really excited to see how will my English expand in the future. Best regards 😀😀

[mrrock]

You're shining today! A huge thank you for more this video and for the great work you've done for us.

[ibanzicharles]

Hello Rebecca!
It's good to hear from your YouTube lessons on idioms. I really love it...

[umeshnimbargi]

I’m a working professional and your english teaching videos have helped me a lot over the past few months. Thank you! Keep it up!

[joseniltonfortesmachado]

Your English classes are amazing! Thanks a lot for your dedication in teaching us!

[Pattyto-sqtb]

I love you teacher!!! you are amazing!!! Thank you so much one more time!

[janjotkaur]

Your lessons are simply awesome and your teaching style is fab. ...thanks alot

[nusratmridharupu]

Hello Rebecca Mam, I am Rupu and I am from Bangladesh.... I am a university student and I am doing B.A(hons) in English... I love your teaching and your videos are very helpful for me..Your voice is also very sweet... Thank you very much for teaching us through your videos... 😍😍😍

[trishizet]

I'm improving my English by leaps and bounds watching you, I've just taken the quiz and scored all of them. Súper. Thanks a lot!

[Melvin-bhop]

you're my best English teacher! thanks from Paris

[suetchunlee]

Thanks so much for your teaching video. It's very helpful for me to gain a lot of knowledge about English. Now, I am trying to make a sentence using one of those idioms you just taught us. I do promise you that I would have remembered all of this lesson by heart.

[xugkrzo]

Hi, Rebecca,happy to see your video, your class is excellent and fabulous, l have gotten many knowledges and now l am getting brave to speak out in English, easy expressions but absolutely helpful for me, thank you so much, l will continue to focus on your videos!!!

[jameswambugu]

I got to know this wonderful English teacher by coincidence.