Language Functions 2

7/30/2019 Language Functions 2

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Example question: What do you usually do in the evenings?

I usually ...

I often ...

While I'm studying I usually ...

Sometimes I ....

As a rule, I ...

Whenever I can I ...

1. Talking About Personal Habits


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Example question: What kinds of music do

you like?

My favourite ... is ... I like ...

I enjoy ...

I'm (quite/rather) keen on ...

I just love ...

I absolutelyadore .... I'm crazy about ...

I'm addictedto ...

I'm really into ...

I don't mind ...

As far as .... is concerned, I

can take it or leave it. I don't care too much for ... =

I'm not really into ...

My least favourite .... is ...

I dislike ...

I can't stand...

I hate ... (extreme language)

I find ...

2. Expressing Likes and Dislikes


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3. Expressing Reasons for Likes

and Dislikes ... because ...

... since ...

The main reason I like...... isthat it's ......

What I like best about ..... is ..... The thing I like best about ..... is

......

The best/worst thing about ... is...

I don't like that very muchbecause it's too ......

That's because I find it ......


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4. Expressing a Preference Ex

ample question:

Do you (or, would you) prefer to travel alone or withothers? (e.g., a friend)

I prefer ... because

My preference is ... because ...

I prefer A to B because ...

If I had the choice, I'd + V ... because ...

If I had the choice, I'd rather + V... because ... If I have the choice, I'll + V .... (a real possibility for the future)

"I have no preference, really I like both of them equally."


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5. Comparing

Example question: What are the differences between people's homes in the city and

people's homes in the countryside? A is/are bigger than B. B is/are not as big as A.

A _____ than B. (Example:"Old people usually havemore moneyin thebank than young people.")

You can also use some of these: Use much as in, A is much better / worse than B. A is not nearly as good as B.

B is nowhere near as big as A A is not quite as important as B. A is almost as important as B, but not quite. In comparison to B,A is quite big. Or, A is quite big in comparison to B. Compared to B, A is a lot/much bigger.


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6. Talking About Recent Changes (1)= Comparing the recent past and the present

Yes, it has. For example, ...

today there are many more cars on the roads than there were thirtyyears ago.

( ... there are/is _____ than there were/was ....)

the air pollution is much worse/much better than it used to be.

(______ is/are ____ than it used to be.)

compared to thirty years ago, the population of the city has

increased by about two million.(Compared to thirty years ago, _______ has +)

the population of the city has increased by about two millionpeople in the last thirty years.

(______ has + in the last thirty years)


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6. Talking About Recent Changes (2)= Comparing the recent past and the present

Example question: Has your hometown changed much in the past few years? (e.g. 20

years)

Yes, it has. For example, ...

more people today own a car than was the case thirty years ago.

(More/fewer/less _________ today + present tense than was the case thirtyyears ago.)

more and more people are living in high-rise apartment buildings todaywhereas thirty years ago, we had very few high-rise apartments buildings in

our city.(Today ______ are + whereas thirty years ago + past tense)

more and more large-scale supermarkets are being built nowadays butthere were very few of them in my hometown thirty years ago

(More and more ________ are being + nowadays but + past tense thirtyyears ago.)


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7. Contrasting Example: "A is big but B is small.

A contrasting statement has two parts and the second part basically repeats the first part ingrammatical form but the idea expressed in the second part is the opposite idea to the firstpart. In the example above, the two ideas expressed are the adjectives 'big' and 'small' butyou can use adverbs or phrases as well. (The yellow words are given extra stress because theyare words in contrast.)

For example, "He works quite slowly whereas I work quite fast" or, "I was on my way towork but he was on his way home."


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8. Suggesting Example questions:

What would you suggest a visitorto your country see and do?

What do you think the government

could/should do?

I'd .... (suggest, recommend, say, tell him/her/them) ....

Maybe/perhaps/possibly ... + could / should ...

It might/may help if ....+ past tense form of verb

It would probably + (be a good idea, be useful, help) if + pasttense form of verb

I .... (suggest, recommend, say) ....


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9.Expressing Opinions Example question:

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

I think ...

I believe ...

I feel ...

Personally, I (think, believe, feel) ...

I tend to + (think, feel, believe) that ...

In my opinion, ... In my view, ...

I've always + (thought/believed/felt) that ...

I maintain that ...

I've always maintained that ...

It seems to me that ...

I'm convinced that ... As far as I'm concerned, ...

My view is that ...

From my point of view, ...

To my mind, ...

The way I see it, ...

As I see it, ...


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10.Giving Reasons for Opinions

... because ... ... since ...

The main reason I say that is because ...

One of the reasons I say that is because ...

(One reason I say that is because ... )


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11.Explaining Example question: Why are many older people

reluctant to learn computer skills?

The reason why ... is because / is that ...

The main reason why ... is because / is that ...

One reason why ... is because / is that ...

One possible explanation (for that) is ...

To understand why ....., you first need to .....(understand, know, be aware that)

Well, it's like this: ....

You could look at it this way: ...


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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 haveopportunities to attend any forms of classes?

Well, I'm not sure but ... Well, I've never thought about that before but ...

As far as I know, ...

I imagine ...

I guess ...

I suppose ...

I'd say ...


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13.Speculating ( = guessing) About theFuture

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

I predict ... + a noun I (can) foresee ... + [a noun +] or + a noun I imagine / suppose / guess ... ... will + adverb (or, adverb + will) ... be (present tense) likely to ... ... be (present tense) bound to ... ... be (present tense) + going to + V= "will" +V Therell probably / possibly be ... We might see / have ...

... will be + ... might be + I'd be surprised if + past tense/past continuous tense I'll be very surprised if + present tense/past continuous tense I expect ...


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14.Expressing Plans, Intentions andHopes for the Future Example question: What are your future work plans? (after you graduate)

I plan to ... My plan is to ... I plan on + Ving () I intend to ... I hope to ... I'm going to ...

My ambition is to ... My immediate goal is to ... My ultimate (= final) goal is to ... Ultimately, ... Hopefully, ... Ideally, ... I expect to ... Id like to ... = I want to .. As an alternative, I might ... If all goes well, I'll / I should ... If everything goes according to plan, I'll / I should ... My dream is to ... It's always been my hope/plan/ambition/dream to ... My heart is set on + Ving


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15.Clarifying What I mean is ..

My meaning is ....

In other words,

That is to say, ...

Let me put that another way.

To put that another way, ...

What I'm trying to say is ..

My point is that ...

More specifically, ...

Forexample, ...

Forinstance, ...


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16.Explaining a Word When you haveForgotten (or don't know) the Word "I can't remember the word but .....

it's a thing that ...

it's a type of ... it's something you ...

he's a person who ...

it's something like ...

it's similar to ...

it's kind of like a ..."


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On the whole, ..

As a rule, ...

In general,

Generally, ... Generally speaking, ..

For the most part, ...

Typically, Usually,

17.Speaking in General

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Language Functions 2