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Have you ever understood every word an American said, but you still had no idea what they meant? It could be that they were using a proverb.

In this video, you will test your knowledge of 15 very common English proverbs. Proverbs are short sayings that native speakers use all the time, and they're part of the culture. They express common wisdom or life lessons, and often they're passed down through generations. Maybe your grandmother used them when she was giving you advice.

Rather than stating something directly, proverbs often use figurative language or imagery to communicate a deeper meaning. For example, make hay while the sun shines isn't talking about hay on a farm. And the sunshine in this case means good times or when things are going well. Or for example, another proverb is save it for a rainy day. It's not talking about actual rain. It's talking about problems or trouble in life. For example, you can say I have a rainy day fund. And that means I have money for an emergency.

When you understand these expressions, you will not only improve your listening, but you will also gain a deeper understanding of English-speaking culture. Let's see how many English proverbs you already know.

Let's look at this proverb. Do you know what the two words that are missing are?
Every cloud has a blank blank. Do you know the answer?

The answer is silver lining. Every cloud has a silver lining. A silver lining is when a dark cloud has a bright silvercoled edge when the sun shines behind it. So a silver lining represents hope, something positive in a difficult situation. So even when there are dark clouds, meaning when things seem really bad, there is often something good that can come from the situation. For example, you can say losing my job led me to start my own business. Every cloud has a silver lining. Or the cancelled trip gave us time to visit family instead. Every cloud has a silver lining. Native speakers often use it this way. Look for the silver lining. There's always a silver lining.

Let's look at the next proverb. Do you know the word that's missing?
Don't put the cart before the what?

The answer is horse. Don't put the cart before the horse. And that means don't do things in the wrong order. A horse should go in front of the cart because a horse pulls the cart. The horse should not be behind the cart. So that means don't put things in the wrong order. Start with the most important steps first. You can say we need to finish the business plan before designing the website. Let's not put the cart before the horse. Or you can say let's wait to buy the furniture first. We have to buy the house. Let's not put the cart before the horse. Do you have a similar proverb in your language?

And let's look at the next proverb. And you might learn a new verb with this one. The proverb is don't count your chickens before they what. What's the verb?

Before they hatch. To hatch means to come out of an egg. We can say the chicks hatched after 21 days. So, don't count your chickens before they hatch means don't assume that something will happen before it actually does. Don't be so sure that it will happen. You can say you haven't gotten the job yet, so you shouldn't count your chickens before they hatch. Don't spend your bonus money before you receive it. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. And the past tense is hatched. Hatched with the T sound. Do you have a similar proverb in your language? I think I heard that in some languages it's don't count your chickens before fall, before autumn, something like that.

Okay, let's look at the next one. A bird in the hand is worth two in the what? What's the answer?

In the bush. So, one bird in my hand is worth two birds in the bush. And that proverb means it's better to keep something that is certain than risk losing it while chasing something that is not certain. For example, you can say I accepted the job offer instead of waiting for another interview. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I'm happy that I would at least have a job.

Let's look at another proverb. And this one is also about birds. The early bird catches the what?

The worm. The early bird catches the worm. This is a worm. Let's make sure that you're pronouncing it correctly. A lot of my students mispronounce this word and they say it like this word. Are you saying them differently? This one is worm and this one is warm. It's a warm day. They're commonly confused. Let me practice this pronunciation pattern a little bit more. So, we say war. Warm. So this word war and this word war have the exact same pronunciation and we say warn. Warn or warning. Warning. I gave them a warning. So these words have the or war. However, this word is spelled with an o, but the o is not pronounced. I know English pronunciation is crazy. We don't say warm. We say worm. Worm. It sounds like this. Were. Were. And then you add an M. Worm. Another word that sounds like that is work. Have you been saying work? That's not correct. It's work. And now let me say the two words worm. Warm.