USEFUL PHRASES

Silence fillers

J    To start with

J    To begin with

J    Well, now, let me see

J    Let me have a look

J    Let me think

J    ... their might/ must/ could/ can’t have been

J    Well, err... I’d say that...

J    Mm... I’m not quite sure what this picture/ photo might be illustrating

J    Possibly, ...

J    At first sight, it seems... , but it could also ...

J    I would say that...

J    It’s difficult to say exactly but ...

 

Introducing yourself

F Have you met before?

F Do you know each other?               Where did you met the first time?

                                                              How long have you know each other?

F Did you know each other?

Formal

F  I’m Mr. X and I would like to introduce you my colleague Y

F  How do you do?

F  How do you do?

 

Not so formal

F ‘Hello, I’m Jane Watson and this is my colleague XX?

F ‘Hello’. ‘Pleased to met you’. ‘Nice to meet you’

 

Very informal

F  ‘I’m Mary and this is John’

F  ‘Hi !’- ‘Good to see you’

 

 

Speculating

£       I suppose this might/ could well (be)

£       He look like ....

£       She look like as if...

£       This must (be)

 

Giving your opinion

¦       From my point of view

¦       As far as I know

¦       As far as I’m concerned

¦       In my opinion/ view

¦       Generally speaking, I think

¦       Personally, I would say that

¦       To my mind

¦       I’d just like to say that

¦       As far as I’m concerned

¦       I’m quite convinced that

¦       To be quite honest/ frank

¦       If you ask me

 

Describing similarities and differences

ø         Compared to

ø         In contrast to

ø         Similar/ almost identical to

ø         Slightly/ completely different from

ø         (not) as (spacious) as

ø         less (modern, luxurious) than

ø         In a similar/ different position to

ø         ... has disappeared altogether

 

Politely asking someone to repeat something

/          I’m sorry I didn’t catch your point

/          I’m sorry I didn’t quite catch that...

/         Sorry, what was that again?

/         Sorry, could you say that again, please?

/         I’m so sorry but I’m not sure I understood correctly

/         What was that again?

/         Do you mean ...?

 

Commenting on something you know nothing about

v    Actually, I don’t have any first - hand experience on ... (but ....)

v    Personally, I’ve never had anything to do .../ had very little to do with...

v    It’s rather difficult to say but I would imagine that...

v    Well, I’ve never been on/ interested in ... but

 

Expressing likes and dislikes

Ø     I prefer/ like

Ø     I’d rather

Ø     What I like the best is ...

Ø     My favourite ...

Ø     I personally ...

Ø     I hate/ loathe/ detest/ can’t stand ...

Ø     What I hate most is ...

 

Asking for the opinion of others

Ø       What / how about you?

Ø       Would you agree that?

Ø       What are your views on ...?

Ø       What’s your opinion?

Ø       What do you think?

 

Asking if somebody agrees

Y    Do/ Would you agree with ...?

Y    You agree, don’t you?

Y     I wonder if you would agree ...

Y    Do you really think that ...?

Y    Do you go along with that?

Y    Wouldn’t you say that ...?

Y    Surely you don’t think that ...?

 

Putting forward another point of view

a   Yes, but on the other hand, don’t you think that ...

a   But to look at it from another point of view ...

a   Surely you can’t really believe that ...?

a   But wouldn’t you agree that ...?