Speaking in degrees
I really like …
I guess I’m quite fond of …
For the most part, I would probably say that I quite like …
To some extent I would say I like …
Well, I wouldn’t say I like…
Well, I suppose you could probably say that I’m fond of …
Do I like …. well it’s hard to say
Possible lead-in phrases
OK then … Alright
Well, you know … Actually
Right, OK … Well …
Well first of all
_______________________________________________________Tell me” Questions
Possible “first pointing phrases”
… the first thing I should mention is that …
… the point I’d like to begin with is that …
… I could start off by saying that …
… my initial point would be that …
… I need to start off by pointing out that …
… the main thing you need to know is that …
… I suppose I should begin by highlighting the fact that …
… you may (may not) be aware that is fact …
… I really need to kick off with the point that …
Possible “second pointing phrases”
Another point which I could add is that …
A second feature which I should mention is that …
As well as that, I could say that …
On top of that I can also add that …
Also, I suppose I should say that …
Possible “third pointing phrases”
And I shouldn’t forget to mention that …
In addition to what I’ve just said, I can add that …
Something else that I need to comment on is that …
I guess I could also remark on the fact that …
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Alternative languages for “liking”
I’m fairly/pretty keen on …
I’m really into …
I’m quite a big fan of …
I simply adore …
I’m quite enthusiastic about …
I generally prefer … (while comparing ONLY)
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Possible starting phrases for “Liking” questions
Well in general I would say that …
Actually, I suppose that for the most I’d probably say that …
Well, to be honest I should really say that …
Of course I think I’d have to say that …
Certainly I would definitely say that …
Well, I guess that generally I would certainly say that …
Introducing a specific type of the topic or category
… but in particular…
… particularly …
… especially …
… specifically …
… to be more precise …
… to be more specific …
… to be more exact …
… to be more accurate …
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Reasoning
And I guess this is probably because …
This could be because …
This might be because …
This is due to the fact that …
I suppose the reason has something to do with the fact that …
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“Disliking” questions
I’m not so keen on … I’m not much of a fan of …I’m not really that fond of … I totally detest …
I absolutely loathe ... I really can’t stand …
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“Types of” questions
- Opening phrase:
Well actually …
Sure, obviously …
OK, certainly …
Of course, you know …
Of course, it goes without saying …
2. … there’s quite a mixed variety of …
… there’s quite a wide range of …
… there’s a fairly broad range of …
… there’s quite an extensive diversity of …
… there’s quite a diverse mixture of …
3 Introduce the first type:
But I guess the most (+adj.) … would probably be …
However, I suppose the most (+adj.) … could possibly be …
Though I think the most (+adj.) … would potentially be …
Yet I imagine the most (+adj.) … may well be …
Still, I suspect that the most (+adj.) … could perhaps be …
ADJECTIVES
Common, popular, fashionable, famous, widely-used, important, standard, hip, usual, current, best-selling, commonplace, frequent, trendy, well-known, significant, conventional, with-it, customary, fashionable, up-to-date, influential, prevalent, notorious, crucial, prominent, widespread, celebrated, commonly-used, commonly-known, notable, renowned
4. Add a detail:
The thing with … is that …
I assume … are so (adj.) because …
The point I want to add about … is that …
And what you have to realise with … is that …
And the explanation for this could be that …
And one basis of this is that …
5. Introduce a second type:
Besides (…), …
As well as (…), …
In addition to (…) …
Another kind of … would be …
Another form of … worth mentioning could be …
A second variety of … would be something like …
A subsequent category would be something like …
6. Develop the second type:
And the main characteristic of … is that …
And the unique aspect of … is that …
And one exceptional aspect with … is that …
7. Add a vague end line:
And of course there’re the usual things like …
And obviously you can also find things like …
Likewise, as might be expected, there are things like …
And naturally, there are things like …
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“Wh-/How often Questions
- Opening phrase:
Well to be honest… Actually to be fair …
In actual fact … Well in truth …
Well in all fairness … In fact, in all honesty …
2. “Depends” phrase:
… I think I would have to say that it really depends.
… I suppose I would have to maintain that it kind of depends really.
… I imagine that it would depend on the situation.
… I guess my answer would be determined by different conditions.
3. Select a linking phrase:
Like for instance … Like more specifically …
You know like, to be exact … More precisely like …
Like, to be more direct …
4. Use conditional structure:
If (situation A) … then I will most likely ...
If (situation A) … then it’s quite possible that I will …
If (situation A) … then as a consequence I will probably …
5. Add a compare linking phrase:
Whereas in contrast… Whereas on the other hand …
Though, at the same time … While, oppositely…
6. Use conditional structure:
If (situation B) … then I will most certainly ...
If (situation B) … then it’s almost certain that I will …
If (situation B) … then I will almost always …
If (situation B) … then it’s more likely that I’ll …
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“Yes/No” Questions
(a better answer is to answer BOTH “Yes” and “No”)
- Opening phrase:
Well in actual fact, if I think it, I guess that in many ways …
OK, well in reality, I suppose that to some extent …
Alright, I guess that on the one hand …
Well certainly in some ways …
2. First statement
It’s fairly important …
3. Linking structure (“Yes” answer)
… especially when you consider that …
… particularly if you think about the point that …
… especially with regard to the point that …
… and this is definitely the case that …
4.Introduce your “No” answer:
But you also have to understand that …
Even so, you could also say that …
At the same time you could say that …
5. “Round off” phrase:
So all in all I guess my answer would have to be yes and no.
So on the whole I suppose the answer has to be yes and no.
So all things considered I guess the answer is both yes and no.
So in the main, I suppose the answer is probably yes and no.