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…
● 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.