IELTS Speaking (Vocabulary)

PART I

Talking about your preferences
What I like/dislike about...
Generally, I prefer X to Y.
I'm not really fond of/I don't really like...
I love/I can't stand...

Talking about frequency
I often..., but sometimes/now and again I...
I rarely/occasionally/hardly ever...

Describing people and places
I have a pretty/fairly/small/average/large family.
It's a pretty/fairly/very small/large/lively/quiet place.

Talking about future plans
I hope to go to...
I want to...
I'd love to...
I dream of...

PARTS 2 AND 3

Introducing the topic
I would like to talk about...
I'm going to tell you about...

Introducing an opinion
To my mind...
I suppose...
I guess...
In my opinion/view...
I really/strongly believe that...
Personally, I think...
I'm really in favour of...

Introducing an explanation
The reason why I don't like...is that...
One of the reasons is that...

Giving an impersonal opinion
Some people think/feel/believe that...

Giving advice
I think people should...
It's important that...
It's a good idea to...

Generalising
As a rule...
Overall/Generally...
On the whole/in general...

Speculating
It's likely/unlikely that...will...
It probably/definitely won't...
It's difficult to say, but maybe...
I'm not sure, but perhaps...
I'm pretty sure/certain that...
I predict/expect that...
As far as I can see...will...

Evaluating
I agree up to a point...
I tend to agree...
I don't really agree/think that...
I completely agree/disagree...
I'm not really sure about...

Comparing and contrasting
For me, X is more/less important...
I don't think X is as..as Y.
...whereas, on the other hand...

Qualifying an opinion
Actually, I'm not really sure about this, because I've never...
Well, I guess it depends, because there are many...
I think it's hard to say, because...
I don't have a strong opinion on this, but probably...

Introducing an opposing viewpoint
But I think it's also important to consider...
Well, yes, buy on the other hand...

Linking ideas
Plus/Also/In addition...
...as well/too
Another reason why I think..is that...

Outlining your response
There are two main problems..Firstly...Secondly...
I think there are several points to consider...

'Buying time'
Well, let's see...
Let me think about that for a moment.
That's a good question...

Clarifying your idea
What I'm trying to say is....
Perhaps I should make myself clearer by saying...
What I mean to say is...
Let me put it another way...

Taken from IELTS Language Bank