IELTS speaking

Useful phrases for part 1,2,3

Talking about your experiences on a number of different topics is what Speaking Part 1 is all about. Speaking Part 2 will also be based on your personal experiences and feelings. While you should find Part 1 questions easy to answer, one thing you shouldn’t do is start every sentence the same way. Here are some phrases you can use to vary your language when introducing personal experiences:

• In my experience…
• I remember when…
• What happened was…
• One time (when)…
• Back when I was…

Checking understanding of the question

• “Do you mean…?”
• “Sorry, I didn’t catch the last word of the question.”
• “Can I ask about a word in the question?”
• “Should I talk ……, or ……….?”
• Could you please repeat the question?

• Sorry, I didn’t get the question.
• Sorry, I’m afraid I didn’t catch that.
• Could you repeat the question, please?
• Could you say that again?

• I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.
• Would you mind repeating?

In Part 3, you can also ask the examiner to rephrase a question if necessary:

• Could you explain what you mean by…?
• Could you explain the question, please?
• Sorry, could you rephrase that?

 

Pausing for thought

• “Let me think.”
• “Let me see.”
• “That’s a difficult question.”
• “I’ve never really thought about that before.”

Sounding unsure

• “I don’t remember very well, but…”
• “The first thing that comes to mind is…”
• “I don’t know a lot about this, but I guess…”
• “I’m no expert on this, but I would imagine…”

Expressing personal opinion

• Speaking for myself…
• Personally…
• In my view…
• For me…
• As I see it…
• As far as I’m concerned…
• I suppose…
• It’s possible…
• I would imagine that…
• I’d say…
• Perhaps…
• I think it’s likely/unlikely
• In my opinion, . . .

If you feel very strongly about the topic in question you can use the following phrases:

• I’m sure that…
• I’m convinced that…
• I’m certain that…
• There’s no way…

Giving examples

• “One example of what I am talking about is…”
• For example, . . .
• As an example, . . .
• For instance, . . .
• Perhaps you’re aware of . . .

Generalising

• “Most people my age think.…”
• Everyone ……..
• No one …..
• Generally, ……..
• In general,….
• By and large,……

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.”

Starting the Part Two presentation

• “I’d like to talk about…”
• “I’m going to speak about…”

Having no more to say

• “I think I’ve answered all the questions.”
• “That’s all I can think of to say on the topic.”

Negative statements

• I’m not so sure that . . .
• I’m not convinced that . . .
• To be perfectly honest, I . . .
• Between the two of us, . . .
• that’s the end of my presentation.”

 

Saying your opinion could vary according to the situation

• That depends…
• I think it really depends…
• That depends on how you look at it.

Agreeing and disagreeing

In Speaking Part 3 you’ll have a chance to discuss the topic from Part 2 in more detail. You’ll be asked to give your opinion and will be invited to agree or disagree. This is a great opportunity to show off your conversational skills within the context of a discussion. Let’s look at some of the phrases you can use to agree and disagree:

Expressing agreement

• I totally agree.
• I couldn’t agree with you more.
• You’re absolutely right.
• No doubt about it.
• Definitely / Absolutely / Precisely

Expressing disagreement

• No, I disagree.
• I’m afraid I disagree.
• I see things rather differently myself.
• I wouldn’t say that is necessarily true.
• I tend to disagree.
• I’m not so sure about that
• I’m afraid I disagree.
• I see your point, but…
• That’s not always true.
• Not necessarily.
• That’s one way of looking at it. However, …

Inserting natural phrases

Well, I’d have to say that . . .

It’s tough to say, but I’d . . .

Expressions

What’s weird is . . .

Something surprising is . . .

One thing I never expected was . . .

Never in a million years did I . . .

I’m not ashamed to admit that . . .

Many are surprised to hear that . . .

It’s a common knowledge that . . .

Comparing and Contrasting

Throughout the IELTS Speaking exam, you will also be asked questions that will require you to compare experiences, people, places or things. For this, it’s important that you know how to use comparative structures well (e.g. bigger than, more interesting than, worse than).  If you’re comfortable using this language and want to go one step further, try using adverbs to be more specific in your descriptions (e.g. slightly more expensive than, much better than, significantly lower than). There are also expressions you can use to compare and contrast:

Explaining small differences or no difference

• similar to

‘My daughter is very similar to her dad in many ways.’

• much the same

‘I think both towns are much the same.’

• same + noun + as

‘My best friend is the same age as me.’

• as + adjective + as

‘To me, reading a book is as fun as watching a movie.’

Explaining big differences

• no comparison

‘There’s no comparison. Driving is much faster than biking.’

Contrasting

• in contrast to

‘Brazilians are very talkative in contrast to Germans, who are usually very quiet.’

• compared to

‘Doctors make a lot of money compared to nurses.’

predictions

• I don’t really think that something like that would happen, because…
• It’s highly unlikely that…
• I really doubt whether…
• The probabilities of something like that taking place in the future are very slim
• It is highly/quite likely that this will happen as…
• It seems probable/likely…
• There are possibilities …
• There is great likelihood that…
• I’m absolutely/quite sure that this will happen