100 Phrases for IELTS Speaking

No.	Term	Definition
1.	A big plus is	A major advantage is.
2.	A good point is	A strong argument is.
3.	A lot depends on	It varies with the situation.
4.	A mixed bag	Both good and bad.
5.	A safe bet is	A likely choice.
6.	A while back	Some time ago.
7.	Actually, I think	To correct or clarify.
8.	All in all	Overall; considering everything.
9.	As far as I know	To my knowledge.
10.	As I see it	In my opinion.
11.	As it happens	By coincidence.
12.	Asking me personally	From my personal view.
13.	At first glance	Based on first impression.
14.	At the end of the day	Ultimately.
15.	Back then	In the past.
16.	Based on my experience	From what I’ve lived.
17.	Believe it or not	It may surprise you.
18.	By and large	Generally.
19.	By the way	Changing the topic slightly.
20.	Come to think of it	After reflecting.
21.	Don’t get me wrong	Avoid misunderstanding.
22.	For a start	To begin with.
23.	For instance	For example.
24.	For me, it comes down to	The main factor is.
25.	From my point of view	In my opinion.
26.	Generally speaking	In general.
27.	Give or take	Approximately.
28.	Hard to say	Not sure.
29.	I agree up to a point	Partly agree.
30.	I can’t speak for everyone	Only my view.
31.	I can’t stand	I really dislike.
32.	I could be wrong, but	Hedging my opinion.
33.	I didn’t catch that	Please repeat.
34.	I don’t have strong views	No firm opinion.
35.	I don’t mind	It’s fine with me.
36.	I don’t really buy that	I don’t believe it.
37.	I guess you could say	A tentative view.
38.	I have a soft spot for	I like it a lot.
39.	I haven’t thought about it	I haven’t considered it.
40.	I mean	To clarify.
41.	I tend to	I usually do.
42.	I was brought up to	I was raised to.
43.	I’d rather	I prefer.
44.	If I had to choose	Forced choice.
45.	If you ask me	In my opinion.
46.	In a nutshell	In summary.
47.	In my case	For me personally.
48.	In other words	Rephrasing.
49.	In the long run	Over time.
50.	It all started when	Beginning a story.
51.	It depends	It varies.
52.	It doesn’t bother me	It doesn’t annoy me.
53.	It goes without saying	It’s obvious.
54.	It just slipped my mind	I forgot.
55.	It might sound strange	It may seem odd.
56.	It really made an impact	It affected me strongly.
57.	It’s a bit of a stretch	Not very likely.
58.	It’s a close call	Hard to decide.
59.	It’s a long story	Needs lots of detail.
60.	It’s a matter of taste	It’s personal preference.
61.	It’s not my thing	I don’t enjoy it.
62.	It’s not really my area	Not my expertise.
63.	It’s up to you	Your decision.
64.	Just to be clear	To clarify.
65.	Let me put it this way	Reframing my point.
66.	Looking back	Reflecting on the past.
67.	More often than not	Usually.
68.	My gut feeling is	My intuition says.
69.	Needless to say	Obviously.
70.	Not necessarily	Not always true.
71.	Not to mention	Also; additionally.
72.	Now that you mention it	I just remembered.
73.	On balance	Overall, after weighing.
74.	On the other hand	Considering the opposite.
75.	One thing led to another	Events happened in sequence.
76.	Personally, I’d say	My personal view.
77.	Putting it simply	In simple terms.
78.	Right off the bat	Immediately.
79.	Roughly speaking	Approximately.
80.	So to speak	In a manner of speaking.
81.	That reminds me	It makes me remember.
82.	That’s a fair point	Good argument.
83.	That’s not the point	That’s irrelevant.
84.	That’s the way it is	That’s how things are.
85.	The best part is	Top advantage.
86.	The main thing is	Key point.
87.	The short answer is	Brief reply.
88.	The thing is	Introducing a point.
89.	To be fair	Considering both sides.
90.	To be frank	Speaking directly.
91.	To be honest	Speaking truthfully.
92.	To be on the safe side	To avoid risk.
93.	To be precise	More exactly.
94.	To be realistic	Considering reality.
95.	To be specific	Giving details.
96.	To tell you the truth	Honestly.
97.	To top it off	Adding more, often worse.
98.	What I mean is	Clarifying meaning.
99.	What matters most is	Key priority.
100.	What struck me was	What impressed me.