Useful phrases for Speaking

 

 

Expressing frequency

      I never/rarely/hardly ever/seldom…

      I sometimes/occasionally…

      I regularly/usually/frequently/often/always…

      Generally/Normally, I…

      Once in a while,…/Every now and then, I…

 

 

Expressing likes and preferences

      I really like/I enjoy…

      I’m fond of/keen on…

      I prefer…

      I would prefer…

      I would rather…

      There’s nothing (that) I would like more than…

      If I had to choose between the two, I would…

      If I were given the choice, I would…

      If it were up to me, I would…

 

 

Introducing your talk

      Well, I’d (first) like to talk about…

      I’m going to speak about…

      I’ve decided to tell you about…

      Let me start by saying…

 

 

Making a general statement

      In general,…

      It’s widely known that…

      In some/many/most cases,…

      Most people recognize/claim/accept…

 

 

Linking your ideas

      In addition,…

      Moreover,…

      Furthermore,…/Besides,…

      I should also add that…/It’s also true that…

      Another/A further point to consider is that…

      On the other hand,…/In contrast,…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expressing opinion

      In my opinion,…

      In my view, I think/believe that…

      As far as I’m concerned,…

      It seems to me that…

      In my experience,…

      Well, as far as I am concerned, I would have to say that…

      There are certainly many sides to this argument. I think one of the most serious is…

 

 

Agreeing partially

      To an/some extent, this is…but…

      This is certainly true on some occasions, but…

      A lot of people argue that…but I would have to say that…

 

 

Narrating

      It all started when I…

      It happened (to me) quite a long time ago, when I was much younger.

      Even though this happened a long time ago, it’s something/ an experience I’ll never forget.

      In the end, I realized/felt…

 

 

Making predictions about the future

      It’s (highly) likely that…

      It’s probable that…

      Chances are that…

      There’s a slight possibility that…

 

 

Expressing uncertainty

      It’s a bit hard to say, but…

      My guess is that…

      I’m not sure whether…

 

 

Gaining time to think

      Hmm, that’s a difficult question. I think that…

      I don’t know much about this issue, but I’ve read/heard that

      Let me see…that’s an interesting question.

      I believe there are a few points that need to be considered. Firstly,…

      To be honest, I’ve never really thought much about it before, but…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saying something in another way

      What I mean is (that)…

      In other words,…

      That is to say,…

      More specifically,…

      To put it another way,…

      Actually, what I’m trying to say is (that)…

      In fact, what I want to say is (that)…

 

 

Correcting yourself

      Sorry, what I meant to say was (that)…

      Or, I should have said…

      Actually, I wanted to say (that)…

      Perhaps I should make that clearer by saying…

 

 

Repeating yourself

      As I said (before),…

      As I mentioned earlier,…

 

 

Asking for repetition or clarification

      I’m sorry, could you say that again?

      Could you please repeat the question?

      Sorry, but I don’t think I understood the question. Are you asking if…?

      Sorry, I’m not sure I understood that. Do you mean…?

      Could you please rephrase the question? I don’t think I’ve understood it.