It’s possible that you’ve heard this idiom in the news in recent times… Have you heard it before? If you have heard it before, do you know what it means?
Photo Credit: Sanja Gjenero
We’ll give you an example… see if you can work out the meaning.
“The President elect, Mr. Obama and his new administration team, would have to hit the ground running when he takes office this month, in order to tackle the enormous challenges facing the US right now.”
Have you guessed the meaning now? For those who are not sure, ‘hit the ground running’ means, to start working on something (activity, task, project) immediately and successfully.
Let’s look at some examples…
“Tom, I’m going to have to hit the ground running when I start the new term at school. We have so many important exams coming up in this term.”
“If you want to do well in your new job, you need to hit the ground running, from the first day at work.”
Conversation example
Jill: Mum, would you like to go shopping with me this moring?
Mum: I’d love to, Jill, but I’m afraid I can’t. I’m going to have to hit the ground running on this project this weekend, to have any chance of finishing it by Monday.
Jill: What a pity! I was really hoping that you’ll go with me.
Mum: I’m really sorry. I’ll try and make it up to you next week.
Well, it’s now your turn… See if you can make your own examples and add them to the comments section below!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi.
My name’s chirag.
I’m 22.
I’m fond of learning spoken english in such a way. I’m specially interested in idioms. I just love your site because of it’s simplicity.
But see,
Plz dont my but I think there is some grammatical mistake here in this quated sentence
“Mum: I’d love to, Jill, but I’m afraid I can’t. I’m going to have to hit the ground running on this project this weekend, to have any chance of finishing it by Monday”
I’m going to have to hit the ground running ?
I think it should be like this,
” I have to hit the ground running on this project….”
What do you say?
Hi Chirag!
We’re glad that you find the site useful and even happier to see that you have actually analyzed the article. We encourage all the readers to do just that, as it really helps the reader to understand and remember the information better.
In answer to your question, this site is about spoken English usage. “I’m going to have to (do something)” is the same as “I have to (do something)”.
Good luck with your spoken English.
Hello,I am nancy!It’s long time I have not to visit the web!To tell the truth,I miss it!
I ‘m very happy the new term is coming,I can meet my dear friends and teachers,most important of all,I have a chance to hit the ground running !As
a saying goes ”new term ,new beginning!”
hai iam pardhu
hi, i am janaki
i am very happy to see the ur web site. i want to learn more idioms in ur site. It gives me a chance to hit the ground running with my English learning.
Hello Janaki! Just today we put up a new post about idioms. We hope to put more up soon. We’re happy to know that you find the site useful. We value your comments. Thanks!