1.

Talking About Personal Habits

Example question: What do you usually do in the evenings?

I usually ... I often ... While I'm studying I usually ... Sometimes I .... As a rule, I ... Whenever I can I ...

2. Expressing Likes and Dislikes

Example question: What kinds of music do you like?

My favourite ... is ... I like ... I enjoy ... I'm (quite/rather) keen on ... I just love ... I absolutely adore .... I'm crazy about ... I'm addicted to ...

I'm really into ... I don't mind ... As far as .... is concerned, I can take it or leave it. I don't care too much for ... = I'm not really into ... My least favourite .... is ... I dislike ... I can't stand ... I hate ... (extreme language) I find ...

3. Expressing Reasons for Likes and Dislikes

... because ... ... since ... The main reason I like...... is

that it's ...... What I like best about ..... is ..... The thing I like best about ..... is ...... The best/worst thing about ... is ... I don't like that very much because it's too ...... That's because I find it ......

4. Expressing a Preference
Example question:
Do you (or, would you) prefer to travel alone or with

others? (e.g., a friend)

I prefer ... because My preference is ... because ... I prefer A to B because ... If I had the choice, I'd + V ... because ... If I had the choice, I'd rather + V... because ... If I have the choice, I'll + V .... (a real possibility for the future) "I have no preference, really I like both of them equally."

5. Comparing
Example question: What are the differences between people's homes in the city and people's homes in the countryside?

A is/are bigger than B. B is/are not as big as A. A _____ than B. (Example:"Old people usually havemore moneyin the bank than young people.")

You can also use some of these:

Use much as in, A is much better / worse than B. A is not nearly as good as B. B is nowhere near as big as A A is not quite as important as B. A is almost as important as B, but not quite. In comparison to B, A is quite big. Or, A is quite big in comparison to B. Compared to B, A is a lot/much bigger.

6. Talking About Recent Changes (1) = Comparing the recent past and the present
Yes, it has. For example, ...
today there are many more cars on the roads than there were thirty

years ago. ( ... there are/is _____ than there were/was ....) the air pollution is much worse/much better than it used to be. ( ______ is/are ____ than it used to be.) compared to thirty years ago, the population of the city has increased by about two million. (Compared to thirty years ago, _______ has +) the population of the city has increased by about two million people in the last thirty years. (______ has + in the last thirty years)

6. Talking About Recent Changes (2) = Comparing the recent past and the present
Example question:
Has your hometown changed much in the past few years? (e.g. 20

years)
Yes, it has. For example, ...
more people today own a car than was the case thirty years ago.

(More/fewer/less _________ today + present tense than was the case thirty years ago.) more and more people are living in high-rise apartment buildings today whereas thirty years ago, we had very few high-rise apartments buildings in our city. (Today ______ are + whereas thirty years ago + past tense) more and more large-scale supermarkets are being built nowadays but there were very few of them in my hometown thirty years ago (More and more ________ are being + nowadays but + past tense thirty years ago.)

7. Contrasting
Example: "A is big but B is small.
A contrasting statement has two parts and the second part basically repeats the first part in grammatical form but the idea expressed in the second part is the opposite idea to the first part. In the example above, the two ideas expressed are the adjectives 'big' and 'small' but you can use adverbs or phrases as well. (The yellow words are given extra stress because they are words in contrast.) For example, "He works quite slowly whereas I work quite fast" or, "I was on my way to work but he was on his way home."

8. Suggesting
Example questions:
What would you suggest a visitor

to your country see and do? What do you think the government could/should do?

I'd .... (suggest, recommend, say, tell him/her/them) .... Maybe/perhaps/possibly ... + could / should ... It might/may help if ....+ past tense form of verb It would probably + (be a good idea, be useful, help) if + past tense form of verb I .... (suggest, recommend, say) ....

9. Expressing Opinions
Example question:
Do you think that children should always be offered an incentive (a reward of

some kind) when parents ask their children to do something?

I think ... I believe ... I feel ... Personally, I (think, believe, feel) ... I tend to + (think, feel, believe) that ... In my opinion, ... In my view, ... I've always + (thought/believed/felt) that ... I maintain that ... I've always maintained that ... It seems to me that ... I'm convinced that ... As far as I'm concerned, ... My view is that ... From my point of view, ... To my mind, ... The way I see it, ... As I see it, ...

10. Giving Reasons for Opinions

... because ... ... since ...

The main reason I say that is because ...

One of the reasons I say that is because ... (One reason I say that is because ... )

11. Explaining
Example question: Why are many older people

reluctant to learn computer skills?

The reason why ... is because / is that ... The main reason why ... is because / is that ... One reason why ... is because / is that ... One possible explanation (for that) is ... To understand why ....., you first need to .....

(understand, know, be aware that) Well, it's like this: .... You could look at it this way: ...

12. Speculating ( = Guessing When You Don't Know)

(When talking about the present or the past)

Example question: Do old people in China have

opportunities to attend any forms of classes?

Well, I'm not sure but ... Well, I've never thought about that before but ... As far as I know, ... I imagine ... I guess ... I suppose ... I'd say ...

13. Speculating ( = guessing) About the Future

Example question: How do you think the tourist industry (in China) will develop in the future?

I predict ... + a noun I (can) foresee ... + [a noun +] or + a noun I imagine / suppose / guess ... ... will + adverb (or, adverb + will) ... be (present tense) likely to ... ... be (present tense) bound to ... ... be (present tense) + going to + V = "will" + V Therell probably / possibly be ... We might see / have ... ... will be + ... might be + I'd be surprised if + past tense/past continuous tense I'll be very surprised if + present tense/past continuous tense I expect ...

14. Expressing Plans, Intentions and Hopes for the Future

Example question: What are your future work plans? (after you graduate) I plan to ... My plan is to ... I plan on + Ving () I intend to ... I hope to ... I'm going to ... My ambition is to ... My immediate goal is to ... My ultimate (= final) goal is to ... Ultimately, ... Hopefully, ... Ideally, ... I expect to ... Id like to ... = I want to .. As an alternative, I might ... If all goes well, I'll / I should ... If everything goes according to plan, I'll / I should ... My dream is to ... It's always been my hope/plan/ambition/dream to ... My heart is set on + Ving

15. Clarifying

What I mean is .. My meaning is .... In other words, That is to say, ... Let me put that another way. To put that another way, ... What I'm trying to say is .. My point is that ... More specifically, ... Forexample, ... Forinstance, ...

16. Explaining a Word When you have Forgotten (or don't know) the Word
"I can't remember the word but .....
it's a thing that ... it's a type of ... it's something you ... he's a person who ... it's something like ... it's similar to ... it's kind of like a ..."

17. Speaking in General

On the whole, ..

As a rule, ...
In general, Generally, ...

Generally speaking, ..
For the most part, ... Typically,

Usually,