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Updated Oct. 10, 2012

Examples of Some Key Language Functions (Page 2)

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8. Suggesting

Example questions:  

What would you suggest a visitor to your country see and do?

What do you think the government could/should do?                                                                 

1. I'd .... (suggest, recommend, say, tell him/her/them) ....
2. Maybe/perhaps/possibly ... + could / should ...
3. It might/may help if ....+ past tense form of verb
4. It would probably + (be a good idea, be useful, help) if  + past tense form of verb
5. I .... (suggest, recommend, say) ....

• Notice that the word 'would' is usually used in this type of question and in your answer. So, don't answer with the words, "I will ...". Instead, say, "I'd ..."

• Notice the grammar in this answer: "I'd recommend they visit the Great Wall and see the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian." The same verb form is used after the word, "suggest".

Alternatively, you can use the verbal noun (动名词) after the words, "suggest" or "recommend" but not after "say". For example, the answer above could also be expressed as: "I'd recommend visiting the Great Wall and seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian." But you cannot say, "I'd recommend they visiting ...". You only use the verbal noun when you don't actually say the pronoun, "he", "she" or "they".

Remember, "they" can mean "he or she" for this usage; it does not have to be talking about a group." For example: "What would you suggest someone do if they lost their bicycle?" --> "I'd suggest they (= he or she) report the matter to the police" = "I suggest reporting the matter to the police".

• Here's an example of #4, above. What do you think the government could do about the pollution problem?  "It would definitely help if the government encouraged alternate forms of electricity generation, such as wind farms and solar-power." Notice that the past tense, "encouraged" is used, although it is not the usual past tense meaning. Also notice that, instead of "definitely" you can use, "possibly", "probably" and "certainly".

• At times, the example shown at 5. (I .... (suggest, say, recommend) ....) is suitable to use. These times are when the examiner does not use the word, "would" in the question.

Some examiners avoid using the word, "would" in the question because they don't want to tell you that you should use "would" in the answer - they want to see if you know about using "would" in the answer. But when the examiner doesn't use "would" in the question, it is sometimes possible to answer correctly without using "would".

For example: "Do you have any suggestions for foreigners who are thinking of visiting China?"

--> "I recommend (or, I suggest) they visit the Great Wall and see the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian." Note: this is most suitable when the examiner does not use "would" in the question. That answer could also be made using the verbal noun: "I recommend (or, I suggest) visiting the Great Wall and seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian."

You can also answer using "would", even when the examiner does not use "would" in the question. "Do you have any suggestions for foreigners who are thinking of visiting China?" --> "I'd recommend (or, I'd suggest) they visit the Great Wall and see the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian. That answer could also be made using the verbal noun: "I'd recommend (or, I'd suggest) visiting the Great Wall and seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xian."

It is probably best to use "would" in your answers, even when you don't need to, because this will "impress" the examiner a bit more, since the grammar is a bit more difficult when "would" is used.

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 9. Expressing Opinions

Example question:

Do you think that children should always be offered an incentive (a reward of some kind) when parents ask their children to do something? 

1. I think ...
2. I believe ...
3. I feel ...
4. Personally, I (think, believe, feel) ...
5. I tend to + (think, feel, believe) that ...
6. In my opinion, ...
7. In my view, ...
8. I've always + (thought/believed/felt) that ...
9. I maintain that ...
10. I've always maintained that ...
11. It seems to me that ...
12. I'm convinced that ...
13. As far as I'm concerned, ...
14. My view is that ...
15. From my point of view, ...
16. To my mind, ...
17. The way I see it, ...
18. As I see it, ...

• Don't say, "personally in my opinion".

• Don't say, "In my eyes". Use, "In my view", instead.

• Only use, "maintain" if the topic is something that you have discussed with others many times before. "Maintain" means you always express this opinion. It is not suitable to use, "maintain" if the question is something that you have probably never thought about before. And only use, "maintain" a maximum of once in the speaking test.

• Similarly, you should only say, "I firmly believe" when you are talking about a topic that suits a strong opinion and a topic that you have deeply thought about before.

• Your answers will be better if you include adverbs such as 'strongly', firmly', 'honestly', 'really' and 'personally'.

• Only use, 'frankly' when saying something that expresses a rather strong or firm opinion. As well as that, this opinion should be rather unexpected (for the person you are talking to) or be something that you don't usually tell other people, like a 'small secret'. 'Frankly' is used when you are expressing something in an unusually direct and honest way. For example, "Who's your favourite film star?" – "Frankly, I don't have a favourite film star because I don't often watch films."

Similarly, only start a sentence with the words, "To be honest, ..." when you are expressing an opinion in an unusually direct and honest way, and this opinion is something the listener probably does not expect.

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 10. Giving Reasons for Opinions 

1. ... because ...
2. ... since ...
3. The main reason I say that is because  ...
4. One of the reasons I say that is because ... (One reason I say that is because ... )

• Don't use, 'as' or, 'for' to mean 因为 when speaking; they are too formal-sounding and unnatural when speaking.

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 11. Explaining

 Example question: Why are many older people reluctant to learn computer skills?

1. The reason why ... is because / is that ...
2. The main reason why ... is because / is that ...
3. One reason why ... is because / is that ...
4. One possible explanation (for that) is ...
5. To understand why ....., you first need to ..... (understand, know, be aware that)
6. Well, it's like this:  ....
7. You could look at it this way: ...  

• Basically, "explain" means to give an answer to a "Why?" or "How?" question that is rather complex. You answer an "explain" question by speaking in some detail.

• In the first three examples above, you can qualify the verb, "is" by saying, "certainly is", "definitely is" or "surely is".

• If you don't know and are guessing the explanation for something, then your answer belongs to the Speculating language function, below. In this case, you could qualify the, "is" from examples 1 to 3 by saying, "possibly is", "probably is", "might be", "may be", or "could be". 

• The language function of explaining is most common in Part 2 – every Part 2 topic asks you to explain something.

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12. Speculating ( = Guessing When You Don't Know)

        (When talking about the present or the past)

Example question: Do old people in China have opportunities to attend any forms of classes?

1. Well, I'm not sure but ...
2. Well, I've never thought about that before but ...
3. As far as I know, ...
4. I imagine ...
5. I guess ...
6. I suppose ...
7. I'd say ...

•  Since you're not sure, you can also use words such as, "maybe", "perhaps", "possibly", "probably", "it's quite likely that ...", "it's quite possible that ...", "it's quite probable that ...", "may +V", "might +V", "could + V". (V = 动词原形)

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 13. Speculating ( = guessing) About the Future

(Most commonly, how the future will change, compared to now.)

Example question: How do you think the tourist industry (in China) will develop in the future? 

1. I predict ... + a noun
2. I (can) foresee ... + [a noun + 现在分词] or + a noun
3. I imagine / suppose / guess  ...
4. ... will + adverb (or, adverb + will)
5. ... be (present tense) likely to ...
6. ... be (present tense) bound to ...
7. ... be (present tense) + going to + V (原形动词) = "will" + V (原形动词)
8. There’ll probably / possibly be ...
9. We might see / have ...
10. ... will be + 现在分词 ... 
11.  ... might be + 现在分词 ...
12. I'd be surprised if + past tense/past continuous tense
13. I'll be very surprised if + present tense/past continuous tense
14. I expect ...

• ‘Adverb’ = ‘adverb of certainty’ = definitely / certainly / probably / possibly.

• Be careful of just saying, “will” with no adverb of certainty. 'Will', with no adverb is used in English to talk about something that you are very certain about in the future. For example, ‘will’ is used in English to promise something to someone – “I’ll give you the money I owe you tomorrow.” Of course, some things are certain, for example, “China’s population will be bigger than it is now, thirty years from now.” You can emphasize your feeling of certainty about the future by saying, "certainly will",  "will certainly", "definitely will" or "will definitely". 

• However, you can use a simple "will" without an adverb to give your opinion that something ‘will definitely’ or ‘will certainly’ happen by including words such as, "I think", "I'm sure", "In my opinion", "I believe" etc. For example, "I believe that twenty years from now, China will have no people living in extreme poverty."

• The words, "...will surely" means, "I will be very surprised if this doesn't happen" = "I'd be very surprised if this didn't happen." You could use "will surely" in the example above: “China’s population will surely be bigger than it is now, thirty years from now.” 

• "Going to"  When you are talking about things happening in the future, besides your own plans, "going to" means, "it will (almost certainly) happen". For the question about the tourist industry, you could say something like, "I think the tourist industry is (certainly) going to expand greatly over the next couple of decades." So, even though "going to" already includes the idea of "certainly will happen" or "almost certainly will happen", you can, if you want to, add the adverb, "certainly" to emphasize this meaning.

[When you are talking about your plans for the future, "going to" = "I intend to" + "I think it almost certainly will happen". See below.]

• Instead of ‘imagine', 'suppose' or 'guess' you could simply say, 'think' but it's not so impressive to the examiner just to say that.

• If you say that something is "bound" to happen, you should not use an adverb of certainty because, "be bound to happen" already has a very exact meaning of, "there is no doubt that it will happen" or, "it is inevitable". If you say, "The tourist industry is certainly bound to grow over the next few years", the use of the word "certainly" sounds repetitive and redundant, like saying, "He's a very intelligent genius" or "He's a tall giant". And, of course, you cannot use the adverbs "possibly" or "probably" with "bound to" because those words are in conflict with the meaning of, "there is no doubt that it will happen".

• Include some comparative (比较) language when talking about the future. For example, "In twenty or thirty years, people will almost certainly be living longer than they do now, due to advances in medical science."

• "I foresee" is usually followed by + [a noun + 现在分词] or a noun. For example, "I foresee people working fewer hours per week in the future." And, using a noun,  "I foresee a decrease in the number of hours people work per week." (Use, "people work", not "people will be working".)

• "I predict" is similar to "I foresee" in meaning but we usually use "will" after "predict". For example, "I predict people will be working (or, will work) fewer hours per week in the future." The noun usage after "I predict" is the same as for, "I foresee": "I predict a decrease in the number of hours people work per week." (For, "people work",  "people will be working" is also possible.)

• #10 & #11 is the future continuous tense. Show the examiner you can say the following kind of sentence: "Thirty years from now, people will almost certainly be driving electric cars and possibly we'll also have flying cars by then." Another example: "In twenty years, some people might be traveling to the moon for holidays." 

• An example of #12 is: "I'd be very surprised if people were still driving petrol-powered cars thirty years from now." Type #13 is basically expressing the same idea as #12 and you could use them interchangeably. For example, "I'll be very surprised if people are still driving petrol-powered cars thirty years from now." Using #12 or #13 will impress the examiner and help you get more points for grammar.

• To help you think of ideas about the future of the topic you are discussing with the examiner, here are five suggestions: 

1. Think about how the internet (or simply, computers) will affect the future of that topic. For example, people will probably be buying many things on the internet in the future and people will be studying more on the internet.  

2. Think of science fiction (科学幻想). For example: flying cars or traveling to the moon for a vacation. Answers based on ideas from science fiction are quite suitable when talking about the future, as long as you qualify your answer with adverbs such as "possibly", "maybe", etc. or use the verb "might" instead of "will".

3. Think of recent advances in science and technology and extend these to the future. For example, cloning, genetic engineering, organ transplanting, wind and solar power, hydrogen-powered cars, electric cars, nanotechnology, robots, brain-wave controlled devices etc. 

4. Think of how globalization might affect the future of that topic. For example, as the world becomes more of a "global village", people will be interacting with foreigners a lot more, leading to probable changes in international law, politics, language, social customs, business etc. 

• See HERE for more detailed examples of the grammar when talking about the future.

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 14. Expressing Plans, Intentions and Hopes for the Future

 Example question: What are your future work plans? (after you graduate)

1. I plan to ...
2. My plan is to ...
3. I plan on + Ving (动名词)
4. I intend to ...
5. I hope to ...
6. I'm going to ...
7. My ambition is to ...
8. My immediate goal is to ...
9. My ultimate (= final) goal is to ...
10. Ultimately, ...
11. Hopefully, ...
12. Ideally, ...
13. I expect to ...
14. I’d like to ...  = I want to ..
15. As an alternative, I might ...
16. If all goes well, I'll / I should ...
17. If everything goes according to plan, I'll / I should ...
18. My dream is to ...
19. It's always been my hope/plan/ambition/dream to ...
20. My heart is set on + Ving (动名词)

• Don't say, "I wish to", for example, "I wish to study in the U.K." It's too formal. Instead, use "I hope to study in the U.K." or the simpler sentences, "I’d like to study in the UK." and, "I want to study in the UK."  (See note below about "want to".)

• See the note about using, "will" in the notes for "Speculating about the Future".

• When you are talking about your plans for the future, "going to" combines two ideas: "I intend to" + "it almost certainly will happen". So don't use "going to" if you are not very sure that this will happen. It is similar to using "will" but "will" only has the meaning of, "it almost certainly will happen"; it is not connected to your intentions.

For example, the following sentence is not very suitable: "I'm going to get a degree in Accountancy in Australia". Many things could happen to cause this not to happen and, after all, you first have to get your 6.5 in the IELTS test! The following examples are suitable: "I'm going to go shopping tonight"; and, "I'm going to sit for the IELTS test again in two months".

On the other hand, if you have already been admitted to a university in Australia and you know your parents have the money, and especially if you already have your visa and plane ticket, then the following statement is suitable: "I'm going to start my university studies in Australia in February."

• "I want to" is ok but it just refers to your desire. A desire is not always the same as a plan or intention. Don't overuse, "I want to" when talking about your plans for the future because it's too simple.

• Don't use the word "can" or the word "must" when talking about the future. Instead, use "will be able to" and "will have to". "Can" and "must" are only used when referring to now.

For example: "After I go to Canada I can practice more English" is incorrect. The correct sentence is, "After I go to Canada, I'll be able to practice more English". 

Similarly, "When I arrive in Australia, the first thing I must do is find a place to live" is incorrect. The correct sentence is, "When I arrive in Australia, the first thing I'll have to do is find a place to live"

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 15. Clarifying 

1. What I mean is ..
2. My meaning is ....
3. In other words, 
4. That is to say, ...
5. Let me put that another way.
6. To put that another way, ...
7. What I'm trying to say is ..
8. My point is that ...
9. More specifically, ... 
10. For example, ...
11. For instance, ... 

• Using "That is to say, ..." is a little formal-sounding. It is best to only use that when speaking quite seriously about something in Part 3 (or when answering a Part 1 question that is a "Part 3-style" question).

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 16. Explaining a Word When you have Forgotten (or don't know) the Word

 "I can't remember the word but .....

1. it's a thing that ...
2. it's a type of ...
3. it's something you ...
4. he's a person who ...
5. it's something like ...
6. it's similar to ...
7. it's kind of like a ..."

• These sentences use the present tense because you are speaking in general. For example, "It's a thing, a tool that you use to put air into your bicycle tyre - you use it like this" (Show the action). (a bicycle pump)

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 17. Speaking in General

1. On the whole, ..
2. As a rule, ...
3. In general,
4. Generally, ...
5. Generally speaking, ..
6. For the most part, ...
7. Typically,
8. Usually,

• Use the Present Tense when speaking in general.

• Use plural nouns. Although singular nouns are possible in some cases, you will make fewer mistakes by using plural nouns.

         Examples: 

"Boys like to play computer games but girls prefer to go shopping."

"I like dog" is wrong and means, "我喜欢吃狗肉". Instead, use "I like dogs."

"I like dogs" means, "I like all dogs; this dog, that dog, whenever I see a dog, I like it." But it is unsuitable to say, "I like pandas" because you don't see different pandas in your everyday life. In this case, it is more suitable to say, "I like the panda" (= "I like the panda species").

"Dogs are friendlier than cats but cats are cleaner than dogs."

• Use the present tense. For example: "I usually get my news from the internet because ...." Avoid using “will” when speaking in general, such as, "I will usually get my news from the internet because ...."

• 有人说 =  "(Many) People say ..." (Not, "Someone said") Avoid saying, "It is said ..." because that sounds too formal in natural speech.

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