Children and parenting · People and relationships
be a handful
be difficult to manage
To be difficult to control or look after because of your behaviour or energy.
This vs that
She's a bit of a handful.
She's difficult to control.
Hear it in real life
How are your twins getting on?
They're lovely, but they're quite a handful.
Our youngest is a real handful when he's tired.
Which sounds natural?
Psst — which one would you actually say?
This idiom makes a complaint about someone's behaviour sound lighter and more affectionate.
The mistake everyone makes
Not: My son is very handful.
Say: My son is quite a handful.
Handful is a noun, so use a before it.
Say it together
Whole chunks natives use with it.
be a handful for someone
The puppy was a handful for the first few weeks.
The new students were a handful for their substitute teacher.
Phrases to borrow
More for talking about children and parenting.
have children of your own
You understand parents better when you have children of your own.
get a child to ___
It took ages to get the child to sleep.
Children and parenting words
People and relationships · Children and parenting: the words around “be a handful”.
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More children and parenting words
Your turn: say it out loud
He's a bit of a handful.
Say it out loud two or three times, until it feels like yours.
be a handful
be difficult to manage
“Our youngest is a real handful when he's tired.”
heytardy