IELTS Speaking: Useful Phrases

STARTING 🏁

• To begin with, …
• First of all, …
• I’d like to start with …
• I’m going to tell you about…
• The (point / idea / etc.) I’m going to talk/speak about is/are….
• I’d like to talk to you about….
• I want to tell you about….
• I would like to discuss…

IF YOU NEED TIME TO THINK ABOUT THE QUESTION 

• Let me see …
• That’s an interesting question.
• Oh, that’s a difficult question.
• I haven’t thought about this question before.
• I’ve never really thought about that before.
• Now, let me think how I can put this. 
• I’ve never thought about it, but I could say that…
• Well, that’s an interesting question. 
• That is a complex issue.
• Let me think.

SAY THAT YOU'RE SURE / NOT SURE AND EXPRESS YOUR OPINION

• It goes without saying that …
• It’s quite clear that …
• It’s worth pointing out that …
• It’s often argued that …
• It’s likely that …
• It’s unlikely that …
• There’s the possibility that …
• Oh, that’s an interesting question.
• Actually, …
• You know, I am not an expert in …, but I suppose that…
• I’m not really sure what I think about that, but…
• I’ve got mixed views on the issue of ….
• In fact, …
• Well, on the whole I tend to think that…
• To be honest, …
• I am absolutely convinced that…
• I don’t remember very well, but…
• The first thing that comes to mind is…
• Perhaps, …
• In my opinion, …
• Probably, …
• Possibly, …
• Certainly, …
• The way I see it is that…
• When it comes to me, I believe that…
• As a matter of fact, …
• The key thing is that ….
• That really depends on the situation.
• I believe …
• In my opinion, …
• I suppose that…
• I am sure that …
• I can only guess that …
• I tend to think that…
• I have mixed views about this issue.
• I don’t know a lot about this, but I guess…
• I’m no expert on this, but I would imagine…

YOU FORGOT A WORD OR WHAT YOU WANTED TO SAY 

• Sorry, it’s on the tip of my tongue.
• I’m not sure if this is the right way to put it but …

YOU KNOW THAT WHAT YOU'VE JUST SAID IS RUBBISH 

• Let me try and rephrase that.
• What I’m trying to say is …
• If we put it in another way, …
• So, the main point is …

YOU MISSED OR DIDN'T HEAR

• Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.
• Could you say that again, please?
• Could you explain what you mean by…?
• Do you mean…?
• Sorry, I didn’t catch the last word of the question.

EXPLANATION

• To put it another way, …
• What I am trying to say is …
• What I mean is …

ADDING AN IDEA 

• I should add that…
• Another point would be that….
• Another idea is that…
• I almost forgot to say that…
• Besides,…
• Moreover,…
• Next,…
• In addition, …
• What is more,…
• Another reason why I like …..

DISCUSSING

•  On the one hand….. on the other hand…
• Many people believe that ……. However,… 
• It is important …….. At the same time, there are other important aspects to consider…

COMPARING (IN EXAMPLES)

• In comparison with children, teenagers are more independent.
• Compared with the older people, youngsters prefer active entertainment 
• Middle-aged people often visit concerts. Similarly, many young people enjoy going to concerts. 
• The same is true about… 
• Small children tend to respect their parents’ values. In contrast, teenagers often express their own opinion.
• Older people prefer watching TV, while younger people enjoy going to nightclubs and discos. 

GIVING EXAMPLES

• For example, …
• For instance, ….
• To illustrate my point, I would like to tell you about… 
• One example of …. could be….
• Let us take the case of ….
• There are many advantages of …., such as….

ENDING 

• Finally, I’d say that….
• My personal conclusion would be….
• On the whole, I think that …
• In short, …..
• To sum up, ….
• In conclusion, ….
• Overall, ….
• To wrap up,….
• To conclude,….

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