Introducing personal experiences

 In my experience…
 I remember when…
 What happened was…
 One time (when)…
 Back when I was…
 First of all….
 And why do I like it so much? Well, it….
 To begin with….
 One of the most interesting things about….
 This is the most important day/thing in my life because…


Expressing personal opinion

 Speaking for myself…

 Personally…
 In my view…
 For me…
 As I see it…
 As far as I’m concerned…

If you feel very strongly about the topic in question you can use the following phrases:

 I’m sure that…

 I’m convinced that…
 I’m certain that…
 There’s no way…

Developing Ideas

 Another reason why I like …..

 Moreover,
 One of the main advantages…
 For instance…..
 One of the consequences….
 This appeals to me, because…
 I get a lot of pleasure out of….
 I am very fond of….
 Another unusual fact about….
 I like … more than anything else because….
 Conclusion Phrases
 In conclusion,…
 To wrap up,….
 To conclude,….
 To sum up,….
Speculating and expressing possibility

 I suppose…
 It’s possible…
 I would imagine that…
 I’d say…
 Perhaps…
 I think it’s likely/unlikely

Agreeing and disagreeing

Expressing agreement

 I totally agree.
 I couldn’t agree with you more.
 You’re absolutely right.
 No doubt about it.
 Definitely / Absolutely / Precisely

Expressing disagreement

 I’m afraid I disagree.

 I see your point, but…
 That’s not always true.
 Not necessarily.
 That’s one way of looking at it. However…

Comparing and Contrasting

Explaining small differences or no difference

 similar to

‘My daughter is very similar to her dad in many ways.’

  much the same

‘I think both towns are much the same.’

 same + noun + as

‘My best friend is the same age as me.’

 as + adjective + as

‘To me, reading a book is as fun as watching a movie.’

Explaining big differences

 no comparison

‘There’s no comparison. Driving is much faster than biking.’

Contrasting

 in contrast to

‘Brazilians are very talkative in contrast to Germans, who are usually very quiet.’

 compared to

‘Doctors make a lot of money compared to nurses.’

Asking for clarification

 Sorry, I didn’t get the question.

 Sorry, I’m afraid I didn’t catch that.
 Could you repeat the question, please?

 Could you say that again?

 Could you explain what you mean by..?
 Could you explain the question, please?
 Sorry, could you rephrase that?