18 Examples.
| To get to | to reach |
|---|---|
| It look four hours to get to the heart of the city. | |
| In hot pursuit | following quickly behind |
|---|---|
| The police are in hot pursuit of the most-wanted criminal. | |
| Step off | to get down |
|---|---|
| As soon as I stepped off the bus, I saw David. | |
| In the wake of | coming after or following something |
|---|---|
| Japan surrendered in the wake of dropping atom boms at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. | |
| Come to a halt | come to a sudden end. |
|---|---|
| The car came to a halt as the railway gate was closed. | |
| Turn out to be | to prove to be |
|---|---|
| Most of the politicians turn out to be selfish. | |
| Hard to come by | difficult to find |
|---|---|
| an honest leader is very hard to come by these days. | |
| To sit out | to stay in a place and wait for something unpleasant or boring to finish |
|---|---|
| It is very difficult to sit out a one-side cricket match. | |
| En rout to | on the way |
|---|---|
| Our bus broke down en route to Paris. | |
| To know like the back of one’s hand | to be very familiar with something or some place. |
|---|---|
| I know every street in London like the back of my hand. | |
| Experience of a life time | to be remembered till the death of somebody |
|---|---|
| My first air travel was an experience of a life time. | |
| At hand | very near in time |
|---|---|
| I have a lot of assignments at hand. | |
| on the final leg | on the last part of (the journey) |
|---|---|
| Our final leg of the trip was by camel. | |
| To tread on | walking carefully |
|---|---|
| The servant-maid helped the children to tread on the uneven road. | |
| In all | as a total |
|---|---|
| In all, there were ten elephants in the herd. | |
| At the mercy of | unable to stop somebody or something harming the other because of one’s control over someone |
|---|---|
| The wife does not want to put herself at the mercy of her husband. | |
| To head back | to return |
|---|---|
| The England Cricket team is heading back to the country after its historic win. | |
| To come to life | to become exciting or full of activity |
|---|---|
| The galleries came to life when Sachin lifted the ball to the galleries. | |
Modal auxiliaries Vs Primary auxiliaries
Primary auxiliaries are be, do, have. They are used to form tenses and to frame short answers.
Modal auxiliaries are will, would, may, might, shall, should, can, could, must, dare, need, used, ought. They are used to express moods.