Functional language bank
1. Expressing and justifying He could be the new school secretary.
This guy looks nothing like him.
opinions This one looks much older than that.
Expressing opinions He can’t be.
For me, … .
In my view, … .
4. Persuading and negotiating
It seems to me that … . Persuading and negotiating
In my opinion, … . If you … , I’ll give you … .
Justifying opinions You’ve got nothing to lose.
The reason I say that is … . That sounds interesting, but … .
You can’t deny that … . I’m not so sure … . I still think … .
Conversation fillers You won’t be disappointed.
Basically, … . I still think we should … .
Well, … . Why don’t we … ?
You know, … . … don’t you agree?
Reaching agreement
Well, you’ve persuaded me.
2. Persuading, agreeing and OK, let’s go for it.
disagreeing
Persuading 5. Asking for and expressing
I think you’ll enjoy it.
You won’t be disappointed. opinions
You’ve got nothing to lose. Asking for opinions
You’ll be glad you did. What do you think?
Let’s … . What do you reckon?
Agreeing What’s your view on this?
I suppose so. If you want my opinion, … .
I don’t know what you mean. Expressing opinions
I really don’t mind. Well, if you ask me, I think … .
Perhaps you’re right. As far as I’m concerned, … .
OK, good idea. It would be a good idea to … .
Disagreeing In my opinion … .
I don’t think so. To tell you the truth, … .
I’m not sure about that. Reacting to opinions and suggestions
Sorry, I don’t agree. I’m not so sure (it is a bad idea).
That’s just what I was thinking.
That’s a great idea.
3. Speculating I agree with you about that.
Speculating I take your point, but … .
Modal verbs I see what you’re saying, but …
He might be in his thirties.
He might understand us better.
She must be nearly two metres tall.
6. Talking about photos
Locating
seem
in the background
Does he seem nice?
in the foreground
He seems really easy-going.
in front of
look / look like / look as if
on the right / left
He looks younger that I expected.
next to
He doesn’t look like a typical head
That’s (my cousin) on the left.
teacher.
She looks as if she’s an Olympic athlete.
1
(My friends Liz and Dora are) just I’d say the exact opposite.
behind us. Not necessarily.
Describing Interrupting
I can see that it’s … . Could I just interrupt here?
It shows … . Can I add something here?
In this photo, there is / are … . Sorry to interrupt, but … .
Speculating
Judging by his face, … . Expressing contrast
He does look a bit … . However, (I think that school uniforms are
It looks like it was … a necessary part of life).
On the one hand, (some people argue that
7. Asking for instructions, school
explanations uniforms are boring).
(Everyone looks the same in a uniform, and
and clarification you can’t
Asking for instructions
express yourself ), but (your clothes are
How do I do that?
only one way of saying who you are).
How does it work?
On the other hand, (school uniform can
What do I do next?
save parents money).
Giving instructions
Although (children might still get bullied for
Could you switch it on, please?
other
Now select the ‘settings’ option.
reasons, they won’t get bullied for their
First, switch it on.
clothes).
Then, choose … .
Just turn it to … .
Asking for repetition or clarification Introducing examples and
Sorry, could you say that again, please? conclusions
I don’t quite follow you. For instance,
I’m not quite sure … . For example,
I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. such as
Giving clarification To conclude,
Let me put it another way. To summarize,
What I mean is … . In conclusion,
Checking that the listener understands To sum up,
Do you see what I mean? All things considered,
Is everything clear so far?
Confirming understanding Position
I understand you, but … . at the back / front
Right, I’ve got that. in front of
Yes, that’s quite clear, thanks. in the middle of
Well, that’s easy. to the left / right of
on the right / left
8. Debating in the top / bottom / right-hand / left-
Agreeing hand / corner
I think (Jessica) is absolutely right. in the foreground / background
I agree with (Jessica). behind
That’s a good point.
That’s so true. Introducing arguments
Disagreeing The main argument for / against is … .
That’s not always the case. First of all, … .
I totally disagree with Tracy about … . It is also important to note that … .
2
My first reason for … .
Another argument for … .
My final point is … .
Giving opinions
My point of view is that … .
To my mind, … .
In my opinion, … .
I am convinced that … .
I feel that … .
I believe that … .
