USEFUL LANGUAGE

AGREE OR DISAGREE:

For example/ For example, I have a friend who

I agree/I dont agree/ I dont agree with that at all.
I think its true /I dont think its true/ I think thats true
(I think) It depends

ASKING FOR INFORMATION (present perfect)

Have you ever?
Have yourecently?
REQUESTS AND PERMISSIONS

Would you mind?

Of course not.
Could you..?
Yes, sure.
Can you help me?
Is it OK if I.?
Im sorry, but
Do you think you could.?
Yes, of course.

INTERVIEW. CAN/COULD/BEEN ABLE TO

Yes, I can. How well?/ When did you learn?/how did you
learn?/did you
find it easy or difficult?
Can you?
No, I cant. Would you like to be able to?/ Why( not)?

EXPLAINING WHAT YOU THINK.

First of all/ Secondly /finally
My first point is that/ another important point is that
Should/ must to/ have to
MAKING SUGGESTIONS

Lets.
Why dont you? /why dont we?
How about? /What about?
Shall we?
We should

 What time and where shall we meet?/ Where shall we have dinner?/ What shall we
do after dinner?
I think we should
So, what do you think?

Responding positively
Youre right
Thats a great idea!
Sounds perfect

Responding negatively
I dont think that
Well, I dont know
Im not sure thats such a good idea
TO BE FOR OR AGAINST SOMETHING.

Im for/ against
I think/ I dont think it would be a good idea to
The problem withis that
I dont think that would work.
That would really make a difference.

GENERALIZING.
Generally speaking/ In general, I think
I think its more common
I thinktend to
o Remember: not to use an article when you generalize, e.g. I think men
NOT the men
GIVING OPINIONS
What do you think? /I think/ In my opinion/
I think so too/ Thats exactly what I think
Im not so sure/Actually, I dont agree with/ Im afraid I disagree/I have to
differ
GIVING AND REACTING TO NEWS

Youll never guesswhat/who./

No! I dont believe it.
Im afraid Ive got some bad news/I hate to tell you this, but.
I have wonderful news for you

Responding to good news

You cant be serious!

I cant believe this!
Youre joking!
Wow! Thats fantastic!

Responding to bad news

Oh, no!
Thats terrible/awful/horrible
APOLOGIZING, GIVING EXCUSES
Im so sorry/ Im very sorry
Im sorry about
I do apologize

Offering an excuse
I did it without thinking /It was my fault/
Its not my fault, as
I didnt realise that

Accepting an apology
It doesnt matter /Its OK/ I understand
Oh well, dont worry /never mind
Its Ok. /Dont worry about it./It doesnt matter /dont apology about it /

Rejecting an apology
Thats not good enough, Im afraid.
PREFERENCES

Positive
-

Personally, I like reading better than watching TV.

I think I prefer stamp collecting to gardening.

Negative
-

I dont like skating at all. I like skiing far better.

Im afraid pottery isnt my cup of tea. I prefer sculpting.

EXPRESSING FEELINGS

Positive
-

Id be really pleased/ excited/delighted

Id be over the moon!
Id be on top of the world!

Negative
-

Id be really frightened/ bored/ disappointed

Id be scare to death
Id be bored stiff

SELECTING
-

I think we should go for

Making a choice is not that easy because
Its hard to choose, but

LANGUAGE OF COMPARISON AND CONTRAST

Introductory Sentences: Differences
X is different from Y in many ways/ X differs from Y in many ways.
There are a number of important differences between X and Y.
I find many differences between X and Y.
Women and men differ not only in physical attributes but also in the way in which
they......
Introductory Sentences: Similarities
The way he speaks English is similar to that spoken by natives.
The mode of processing used by the right brain is comparable in complexity to
that used by the left brain.
My new shoes are similar to those ones.
There are a number of similarities between X and Y.
Comparison within one sentence (comparative forms)
Women are faster/slower than men at certain precision manual tasks.
Women tend to perform better/worse than men on tests of perceptual speed.
Men are more/less accurate in tests of target-directed motor skills.
Women are more/less likely than men to suffer aphasia when the front part of
the brain is damaged.
Adolescents are less likely to be put to sleep by alcohol than adults.
Women tend to have greater/less verbal fluency than men.
Men learned the route in fewer trials and made fewer errors than did women.

considerably
a great deal
(very) much
rather
somewhat
a little
slightly
scarcely
hardly
only just

X is

exactly
precisely
just
virtually
practically
more or less
almost
nearly
approximately
about

X is

X is not

X
is

exactly
entirely
quite

totally
completely different from
entirely
Y.
quite

X and Y are

different
dissimilar
totally
completely
entirely
quite

smaller
bigger
cheaper

than...

etc

the same as ...

the same as ...

X is not quite
so/as

big
expensive
etc

in every way/respect.

different.

as...