Important Expressions
Use this topic as a speaking phrase bank. Pick a few phrases from each group and practise using them in full answers, not as isolated memorised chunks.
Introductory phrases
I am going to talk about ...I would like to talk about ...I want to talk about ...I'm going to describe ...What I'm going to talk about is ...
Giving opinions
I think that ...I believe that ...What I think is ...As far as I'm concerned ...In my opinion ...It seems to me that ...If you ask me ...I strongly believe that ...In my view ...
Strong opinions
In my honest opinion ...I'm convinced that ...I really think that ...Frankly speaking ...I strongly believe that ...I'm absolutely certain that ...I'm positive that ...It seems clear to me that ...I would definitely say that ...... without a doubt ...
Weak opinions and uncertainty
I'm pretty sure it's ...If what I read online is right ...It could/might/may/must be ...I would guess/I would imagine/I suppose ...I don't remember very well, but ...If I remember correctly ...This is just a guess, but ...It's something like ...It's very difficult to predict the future but ...It could/might/may/must have been ...
Developing ideas
First of all ...Secondly ...Additionally ...Another thing ...Another reason why ...Furthermore ...
Background phrases
It happened ...It took place ...It's been going on for/since ...At that time ...
Impression phrases
... impressed me... motivated me... moved me... touched me deeply... had an effect on me... affected me... influenced me... disturbed me
Things you like
I like ... most of allI enjoy ...I love doing ...... really appeals to me because ...I take great pleasure in ...
Generalizing
In general ...Generally ...The vast majority of people ...People in my generation ...People my age ...There are exceptions of course but ...... tend to ...In most cases ...
Personal experience
I have ...I have personal experience of this.(Just) the other day.../A couple of weeks ago ...A few years ago, ...A memorable experience I had was ...An experience of this which stands out is ...I had a bad experience with this.I have found that ...I have only experienced this once but ...I once ...I will never forget the time when ...I'd like to share my experience of ...In my (limited/substantial) experience, ...My first/last experience of this was ...My own experience of this is ...One day, ...Something happened to me when ...When this happened to me ...When I was in my (early/mid/late) teens, ...I was affected by this when ...
Expressing preferences
My favourite ... is ...I prefer ... to ...I'm really into ...I'm quite fond of ...I really don't like ...I don't really like ...I absolutely adore ...I hate ...I detest ...
Giving examples
To give an example of what I mean, ...For example, ...For instance ...I'm not sure if this is a good example, but ...The best way of explaining what I mean is with the example of ...The first thing/person/place that comes to mind when I think of this is ...
Pausing and clarifying
Well ...Let me think.Let me see.I've never really thought about that before.That's a difficult question.Let me think about it for just a moment.I've never thought about that before.I can't think of the word in English but it's a kind of ...Let me have a look at the question again.What else was I supposed to say? Oh yes, ...What was the last point again? Oh yes, ...
Comparing and contrasting
It's exactly/almost exactly/more or less the same as ...It's very similar to ...more ... than ... / less ... than ...not nearly as ... as ...Compared to ...Unlike ......, whereas ...In contrast, ...
Asking for confirmation
I'm sorry but could you explain this word here?Can you say that another way?Are you asking me about ...?Can I double check if you mean ...?Can you repeat the question/the first part/the last word?Can you say it again one more time more slowly?Did you say ... or ...?Do you mean ... or ...?Does that mean ...?Does the question mean ...?Does ... count as ...?Excuse me. Can I ask what one word means?I didn't catch the first/middle/last part of ...I didn't understand the last word/last part of the question.I guess/suppose you mean ... Is that right?It depends what you mean by ...I'm not quite sure about ...Sorry, I'm still not quite sure what you mean.Should I talk about ... or ...?
Checking that you have answered the question
Sorry, what was the question again?Does that answer your question?What's the other thing I was supposed to talk about? Let me see. Here it is ...
Correcting and ending
I meant to say ...Let me try to answer that again.I ... I mean ...Let me start again.That's wrong. What really happened was ...I'm not sure that I've explained myself properly ...I said ... but in fact ...I think I've answered all the questions.That's all I can think of to say on the topic.That's the end of my presentation.
Predicting the future
I hope that ...It's possible that ...I can see that ...If possible, I'd like to see ...We should plan to ...It might be that ...We can assume that ...Probably ...I expect that ...
Not answering the question
Sorry, I still don't really understand what you mean.I'm afraid I really don't know.I can't really remember.