TIPS FOR YOUR SPEAKING:PHRASES FOR TASKS 1 AND 2

Phrases for Tasks 1 and 2

Because the first two speaking tasks are about your thoughts, many of the helpful transition words are about reasons and examples. You will probably give two reasons or two examples in your answers, so you have to connect them correctly. You might also contrast two opposite examples to make your opinion clear. After giving the reasons and/or examples, you can summarize with a general statement. Be sure to transition into your summary.

Explaining why:

● That’s because…

● The reason I say that is that…

● After all,…

Listing:

● First of all,…

● …, for one. ● First,… Second,…

● Also,… ● Besides that,…

● What’s more,…

● More importantly,…

● But what’s more important is that…

● There’s also the fact that…

Giving examples:

● For example,…

● Take, for example, [noun]. ● For instance,…

● If…., say,…

Showing a contrast

● But on the other hand,…:

● Meanwhile,…

● In contrast,…

Returning to a previous idea:

● Anyway,…

● But still,…

Clarifying:

● What I mean to say is that…
● I guess I’m trying to say that…

● To put it another way,…

● That is,…

● I mean,…

Summarizing:

● So basically,…

● Essentially,…

● In general,…

● My main point is that…