THE IDIOM COLLECTION LEARN & PRACTISE
Come to grips with
Understand the meaning. See it in context. Make it yours.
01 / UNDERSTAND
Meaning in plain English
To make a serious effort to understand and deal with a difficult situation.
02 / SEE IT IN CONTEXT
The expression in a sentence
- I need time to come to grips with the new booking system.
03 / CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Quick idiom quiz
Try the question without looking back, then write a sentence of your own. You can retry as often as you like.
0 of 1 checked correctly
Can you recall the expression?
Complete the example using the expression from this lesson.
I need time to ________ the new booking system.
Show the answer
Come to grips with — To make a serious effort to understand and deal with a difficult situation.
Try your own sentence (optional)
Make it yours
Write one sentence using “Come to grips with” about your own life.
Check your sentence
Does your sentence match this meaning?
To make a serious effort to understand and deal with a difficult situation.
Compare: I need time to come to grips with the new booking system.
Check the spelling and how the expression fits the sentence. Your example can be different.
Self-review only. Your sentence is not automatically marked, saved or submitted.
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More ways to understand and use it
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When to use it
Use it for tackling a challenging problem or learning to manage something unfamiliar. It suits study and workplace conversation.
More examples in context
- The team is coming to grips with the causes of the delays.
- We finally came to grips with the problem after looking at the original data.
Usage note
Follow with a noun or an -ing form: “come to grips with managing a team.” Get to grips with is a common variation.
A short conversation
A: How is your new role going?
B: I am still coming to grips with managing several projects at once.
A: A shared timetable might help.
One more practice question
Which action shows someone coming to grips with a problem?
A. Studying its causes and working out how to address them.
B. Ignoring it and refusing to learn anything about it.
Check your answer
A. They are actively trying to understand and handle the difficulty.
Related lessons
Meaning and usage checked against Cambridge Dictionary. Explanations, examples and conversation are original.