10 Famous English Proverbs (You Should Really Know!)

Hello my wonderful students.

Has anyone ever said to you an  apple a day keeps the doctor away?

This is the most famous proverb in English.

And today you're going to learn 10 English  proverbs that Neno speakers commonly use.

And at the end, I'm going to quiz you  to make sure you know these proverbs.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course.

I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

First of all, what is a proverb?

A proverb is a short, memorable phrase or saying  that shares a general truth or piece of advice.

Proverbs are generally passed down from  generation to generation, and they're  

important for you to know because they're used a  lot in literature, conversations, and everyday.

Speech #1, the most famous one, an  apple a day, keeps the doctor away.

I've heard this proverb sent I was a little girl.

This means that consuming nutritious food  like apples and doing that regularly can  

contribute to your overall well-being and reduce  

the likelihood that you need to see a  doctor, so it keeps the doctor away.

Don't worry about taking notes because I  summarize everything in a free lesson PDF.

You can find the link in the description.

You can use this proverb to teach children  about the importance of eating healthy.

Like I said, I've heard this  since I was a little girl.

You can use this when you see someone eating  unhealthy to try to encourage them to eat healthy.

And we often use this when we  see someone eating an apple.

Notice for grammar, it's an apple.

You have an because apple begins  with a vowel sound, so you need an.

That's the indefinite article,  an apple, But it's the doctor.

So we use the definite article  for doctor, the doctor.

And our verb here is keep, which is conjugated  in the present simple an apple a day.

This keeps so third person  singular and apple a day.

This keeps the doctor away.

Native speakers love taking  proverbs and then making a  

joke or a pun by changing  the words of that proverb.

For example, I could say in a fun, humorous  way, AJ for his English video A day keeps the  

principle away because if you go to the principal,  you're in trouble, so it keeps trouble away.

The principle represents trouble.

So that's my advice to you.

A video a day, A video a day,  put that in the comments.

A video a day keeps trouble away.

A video a day.

Put that in the comments and you can hear  some other humorous references in these clips.

Turns out an apple pie a day  does not keep the doctor away.

Nobody says a candy bar day keeps.

An apple a day might get me an A #2.

The early bird catches the worm.

This means that success comes to those  who prepare well and start early.

You know what an early bird is?

We have an early bird and a night owl.

An early bird is a person like me who  likes waking up early in the morning  

and is most productive in the early hours the day.

A night owl is more productive at  night and therefore stays up later.

So which are you?

Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Share that in the comments as well.

Of course, you can use this proverb to teach  children the importance of waking up early.

Encourage someone to wake up early, or encourage  someone to start a project or task early.

Let's say you're in bed with your partner on  Saturday and your partner says it's Saturday.

Let's sleep in.

You can say the early bird catches the worm.

Notice here for grammar we have  the early bird and the worm,  

so we have the definite article  and they're both singular.

The early bird, the worm,  and for grammar, it catches.

Because the early bird represents  the subject it it catches.

So this is the present  simple third person singular.

Now know that native speakers  often replace catches with gets.

The early bird gets the worm.

They're both common.

Early bird catches the worm, the  early bird catches the worm #3.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

This means don't risk everything  in one single venture or decision.

So it's used to caution against investing  all your resources into one option.

This is used specifically with business  decisions and most commonly with investments.

Your neighbor could say my retirement fund  is entirely invested in cryptocurrency.

You can reply back and say don't  put all your eggs in one basket.

Notice this begins with don't,  which is the contraction of do not.

It's the imperative in the negative form.

You could also say this in a clause with  a subject verb and say you shouldn't.

You shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket.

It's my money.

I invested it.

I'm not putting my eggs in that.

Basket.

You put all your deviled eggs  in one basket, so to speak.

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Now let's continue with our lesson #4.

I love this one.

Actions speak louder than words.

I feel this way a lot with my students,  so pay close attention to this one.

This proverb means that what you do your actions  

shows your intentions and feelings more  clearly than what you say your words.

You can use this proverb when you want  to encourage someone to take action,  

and this is commonly how  I use it with my students.

You can also use this to let someone know  that their words aren't that important.

What's more important is  what they do, their actions.

So I hear this a lot with parents  to children, spouses to one another,  

teachers to students, and of  course bosses to their employees.

Notice grammatically, there's no possessive  before the nouns, so it's just actions.

Not your actions speak louder than words.

Not your words or his words or our words.

So just use the nouns.

No possessives.

And again it's in the present simple,  but this time the third person plural.

So it's actions speak because they speak.

Actions speak louder than words.

Let's say I get an e-mail from a  student and the student says Jennifer.

I really want to improve my English, but  then I reply back and say this is the 7th  

e-mail you've sent me and you've  been saying this for three months.

Actions speak louder than words, so the  student has to stop talking about how they  

want to improve their English and take  concrete action to make that a reality.

They can join a course like  mine, the Finely Fluent Academy,  

or they can find a teacher on  italki or Cambly, or do anything.

Just take action.

This proverb can be used in a motivational,  

inspirational way, but it's often  used with frustration and annoyance.

To be honest how I would use it  with a student after they have  

told me again and again and again  but I don't see them taking action.

This proverb is basically a polite way of saying  stop talking about it and just do it already.

Actions speak louder than words.

Take care of it well.

Actions speak louder.

Than words #5.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

This means there is something  good in every bad situation.

You can use this with anyone to offer  comfort or optimism during difficult times.

Notice grammatically it's  every cloud, all silver lining,  

and the verb is to have here is conjugated  in the present perfect third person singular.

Every cloud, which means one cloud it has.

Every cloud, has a silver lining.

Let's say we go out for coffee and you share  with me that you lost your job and you're really  

upset and scared because of it.

I could say I'm so sorry you lost your  job, but every cloud has a silver lining.

I know something better is waiting for  you, and I'm here to help in any way I can.

Notice how you can add  additional words of comfort.

I'm here to help.

I know something better is waiting for you.

You can use these before or  after you use this proverb.

I know, but every cloud has a silver lining.

It's the only silver lining.

On a very.

Dark Cloud.

See, every cloud has a supple leather lining.

Remember though, actions speak louder than words,  

so often just hugging someone is  the best comfort you can give them.

Number 60.

I love this one.

Out of sight, out of mind.

This means that you quickly forget people  or things that are no longer visible.

You can use this to remind people  to make wanted things visible and,  

just as importantly, unwanted  things less visible or invisible.

Notice here there's a comma in this proverb.

This is important because it tells you to  take a pause out of sight, out of mind.

So you take a pause between them and notice  

out of a native speaker will  pronounce that as aouda aouda.

This is a reduction Aouda,  out of sight, out of mind.

I follow the advice of this proverb for  bad habits that I want to eliminate.

For example, I don't like chocolate.

I don't have a sweet tooth.

You can leave cookies and cake  and chocolate on the counter.

I will not eat it, but put a bag of potato chips  on the counter and I will eat the entire thing,  

even if it's 8:00 AM or even if I  just ate dinner because I love chips.

So how do I solve this problem?

I hide the potato chips so they're not visible.

Out of sight, out of mind.

That's making something unwanted, invisible.

But you can make something wanted visible.

Your friend could tell you I keep forgetting  to drink water during the day and you can say,  

keep a glass of water beside you  because out of sight, out of mind.

Notice you can put because before the proverb  to form a complete sentence out of sight.

Out of mind.

But it's probably just out  of sight, out of mind #7.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Just know that the full proverb is rarely used.

Native speakers just say when in Rome, which  is why I put the other information in brackets.

This means you should adapt to the customs  of the place that you're visiting or living.

You can use this with tourists,  

with new immigrants, or with anyone who's  new to a school, A-Team, or a workplace.

Let's say you're on vacation in Disney World and  you notice that everyone is eating a Turkey leg.

You could say eating a giant Turkey leg  seems like an odd choice, but when in Rome,  

and this means you are going to adapt to that  custom and you are going to eat a Turkey leg,  

'cause that's what people do in Disney.

Or your friend could say, I didn't know you  liked American football and you can say I don't,  

but when in Rome, so maybe now you  live in the US and you know that  

American football is extremely popular,  so you want to adapt to that culture.

When in Rome?

When in Rome?

I mean, as they say when in Rome.

#8 Great minds think alike.

This means that intelligent people, great minds,  

often come up with the same ideas,  suggestions, or conclusions.

You can use this proverb when two people have  the same idea, suggestion, or conclusion.

This is commonly used in work meetings, but  you can also use it in social situations.

Maybe you could say to your husband,  I think we should go to Rome for our  

20th anniversary and your husband says  really I was thinking the same thing.

And then you reply back and say, well,  

great minds think alike notice for  pronunciation alike alike is one word.

But that letter A is unstressed and  the syllable stress is on like so.

It's alike, alike.

Our verb here is think and is conjugated in  the present simple in the third person plural.

Great minds represents the subject.

They they think alike.

Great minds think alike.

This is often said humorously to show it's funny  that you and another person or two people had the  

same idea, but this is a compliment when you use  it, even if it's used in more of a humorous way.

Oh, great minds think alike.

Well, I guess great minds think alike.

Great minds, buddy.

Great minds #9.

It takes two to tango.

This is used to say that a situation or conflict  is the responsibility of more than one person.

This proverb is often used in conflict resolution,  

relationship issues, disputes,  or to encourage collaboration.

Your friend could be complaining to you and say  

my wife has been so unpleasant  lately, she's always mad at me.

I'm getting sick of it.

You can reply back and say,  well it takes two to tango.

Can you think of anything you  might have done to upset her?

So by using this, you're reminding your  friend that they might be part of the  

problem and they need to look  at their own actions as well.

Notice for pronunciation we have two  words with the exact same pronunciation,  

the number 2 and the preposition to,  but I will not pronounce it as to to.

The second to the preposition is unstressed.

TA to to tango, TA to tango,  TA to tango, to to tango.

That's very fun to say to to tango, to to tango.

Try that to to tango.

And the verb here is tango.

That's why we have the preposition to.

It's being used in the infinitive.

Although this the verb uses the number two,  you can use this with groups larger than two.

Well, it always takes two to tango.

Have you ever heard the  expression it takes two to tango?

We do what we don't.

Takes two to tango and #10.

Laughter is the best medicine.

This is used to say that finding humor in life  can help you overcome problems and feel better.

And isn't that the truth?

You can use this to cheer someone  up, to encourage someone who's sad,  

to find ways to laugh, or just to remind  people how powerful a good laugh can really be.

You could say to your friend  that movie was awesome.

I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Your friend could say that's great.

They say laughter is the best medicine.

Or maybe your friend tells you I had a tough week,  

but on Friday I relaxed with  friends and we laughed all night.

I feel so much better now.

Laughter truly is the best medicine.

Notice that pronunciation of  laughter, laughter, laughter.

And this is a gerund statement.

Laughter, the noun, is the subject.

Just remember, this doesn't have to  be used when someone is sick or sad.

You can use it in any situation just  to celebrate the joy of laughing.

Now you know the 10 proverbs.

Are you ready for your quiz?

Here are the questions.

Hit, pause.

Take as much time as you need and when  you're ready, hit play to see the answers.

Here are the answers.

Hit pause, review them and  when you're ready, hit play.

So how did you do with that quiz?

Share your score in the comments and  there are many more proverbs in English.

Do you want me to teach you more?

If you do, put more proverbs, more proverbs,  more proverbs in the comments below and you can  

get this free speaking guide where I share 6 tips  on how to speak English fluently and confidently.

You can click here to download it or  look for the link in the description.

And I have another lesson  where you'll learn 20 idioms.

Make sure you watch it right now.