Which statement about idiomaticity is true?

• A. Idiomaticity is about vocabulary size.
• B. Idiomaticity involves translating word-for-word.
• C. Idiomaticity is sounding natural in a language.
• D. Idiomaticity is not related to fluency.

Answer: (C)

Idiomaticity is about sounding natural in a language. It means using expressions, collocations, and idioms in the way native speakers would, not translating each word literally. A learner can know many individual words but still come across as awkward if they don’t use natural phrase combinations. For example, English speakers say “make a decision” and “spill the beans,” not a word-for-word or overly literal rendering. Mastery of idiomaticity involves choosing the right phrases for the situation so speech flows smoothly and sounds fluent. Translating word-for-word or focusing mainly on vocabulary size misses how people actually string words together in real conversation, which is why those approaches don’t capture what it means to be idiomatic.