Speaking | Paired Activity | Useful phrases
Winning time – gap fillers
Well, you see/know…
That’s a good question./ I’m glad you asked me that question./ That’s difficult for me to answer.
I don’t really know how to say this/ what to say.
Let me think for a moment.
To be quite honest…
Turn taking
I would like to know what you want to do./ I’m very interested in your opinion.
What do you intend to do/think?
What do you propose to do about…
What about you?/ What’s your view/position on…?
Have you also…?
Showing interest
It’s the same with me.
That’s cool/interesting…
Really? / I see!/ I didn’t know this! / I know what you want to say. / I know how you feel./ I know what you mean
Expressing a lack of understanding
I beg your pardon, but I don’t quite understand.
I don’t quite see what you mean/what you are getting at.
I’m not quite sure I can follow you/I got the point.
Sorry, I didn’t hear what you said.
Asking for clarification
Are you saying that…?
Can you be more specific/explicit? Can you clarify that for me?
Could you explain what you mean by…
Could you repeat/say that again please?
Would you elaborate on that, please?
It depends on what you mean by…
What exactly do you mean by that?
So, if I understand you correctly, …
Clarifying your ideas
I mean… / In other words… / My point is that…/ That’s to say…
Why I really mean is… / What I’m getting at is… / What I’m trying to say is…./ My point is that…
That’s not quite what I meant by…
I’m afraid there has been some misunderstanding. What I actually said was that…
Don’t get me wrong. What I meant was….
Introducing a statement/ Expressing an opinion
I would like to raise another point.
What we haven’t discussed yet is the question whether/if…
We should also discuss what this means for….
Well, I feel that…
I’d like to say that…
It seems to me that…
To begin with… / We all know that….
I find it hard to comment on…
I’ve honestly never thought about…
It’s hard to say what/why…
I’m not in a position to judge/comment on…
I (personally/honestly/ really) think/believe/feel/suppose/reckon that…
In my opinion/From my point of view/ To my mind/ As I see it…
As far as I’m concerned/able to judge….
I, for my part, …/ Speaking for myself…/ If you ask me…
I am of the opinion that… / I have the feeling/the impression that….
Agreeing
I couldn’t agree more./ I fully support your view/statement.
I know exactly what you mean./ That’s sounds convincing.
I suppose that’s generally true.
So do I (agree with a positive statement). Neither do I (agree with a negative statement).
That’s a good point/ I’m all for it./ What a good idea.
I think so too.
That’s just what I was thinking./ I can’t help thinking the same.
Agreeing in part
I see what you mean, but…
I’d go along with you on that up to a point. However, …
That’s a valid point. Yet, …
You could be right, / You’ve got a point, but…
Disagreeing (+see Bifie sheet)
Don’t get me wrong, but…
On the contrary: …
I’m afraid I don’t agree. / I don’t think that’ quite right.
Then we must agree to disagree.
I’m sorry, but this is not correct. In fact/reality…
That’s not how I see it./ I completely disagree with you on…
I see things rather differently myself.
Challenging an argument
I don’t see how you can argue like that/how you can predict/assume that.
You haven’t convinced me yet!
I’m sorry, but I think your argument is flawed.
What hast that got to do with the issue?
I can’t accept those assumptions.
But isn’t it more a question/matter of…?
Expressing criticism
You seem to have forgotten …
I don’t feel you have understood…/ I don’t think you have realised…
I don’t see how…
That’s all very well but what about…
I feel you’re missing the point.
Expressing doubt
I’m not sure if… / I’m not convinced by/that…/ I’ve got reservations about…
I doubt if it helps to…/ I wonder if it is good to…/ I have my doubts about/that…
Expressing certainty
There’s no doubt that…
It’s/ I’m absolutely certain/sure that…
As I was saying…
I am convinced that…
Emphasising
First and foremost, people should…
And, on top of all that, …
Let me point out that…
Most importantly, we must realise that…
The point I’m trying to make is…
Changing the subject
Before I forget… / While I remember….
By the way…/ Incidentally…/ Speaking of…./ That reminds me of…
Changing the subject for a minute… / I just thought of something…/ What about…
If I could just interrupt you there…
Changing your mind
I’ve come round to thinking it’s a good idea.
After some thought, I think it is worth a try.
On second thought, I don’t know if it could work.
Conceding (nachgeben)
Well, if you put it like that…
I must admit that…/ Even if that is so…
I now see what you mean.
I suppose you have got a point there.
Referring to a previous point
As I mentioned earlier,… /As we saw/said earlier…
If I understood you correctly, you said…./ As you said( before)…
Talking about… / As to/for…
I would like to come back to/comment on what you said about…
Persuading
But can’t you see…/ But actually/in fact….
Don’t misunderstand me, but… / Even so,…
Look at it this way:…
Surely it would make more sense to…. / The point is…
You must admit that…/ You could always consider…./ Wouldn’t it be better to….
Suggesting
How about…/ We could…/ What if…/ Why don’t we…/ I could … / I would be more than happy to…
Is there any reason why we shouldn’t…
It might not be a bad idea to…
Have you ever thought of/considered…
May I suggest…
How would you feel about…
Presenting solutions
What would work out best is if we…
What we could do is… / Couldn’t we simply change…
As I see it, the solution is clear: we need to…
Why don’t we…. /Let’s…
So, we have reached a compromise over…
You said that you agreed with the idea in general that…
I think that just about sums it up because….
Referring to the future
in the future/ in the next few years/ in ten years from now/ after leaving school/ after my graduation/ after graduating/ before long/ in five years’ time
Expressing like
I appreciate…/ I am fond of …/ I adore…/ enjoy doing sth …/ I am keen on doing sth…
Expressing dislike
I can’t stand…/ I detest…/ I loathe…/ I despise…
I find it sb/sth appaling/impossible/intolerable/unacceptable.