EXPRESSIONS FOR FCE SPEAKING EXAM

FCE
SPEAKING
TEST
–
useful
 phrases



Asking 
for 
clarification

Sorry,
I’m 
not
 sure
 what 
you 
mean.

I 
don’t (really) 
understand

Can
 you 
say 
that 
again ,
 please?
 I’m 
not

(quite)
sure 
what
 I 
have 
to 
do.

Can 
I
 ask
 a 
question?

Do you 
want 
me
 to….?



Correcting yourself

What 
I
 mean 
is…

What
 I
 meant
 was…

What 
I’m 
trying 
to 
say 
is…



Compare
 and 
contrast 
(Part
2)

They 
both
 show/ have/ etc

They’re
 both
 quite 
similar 
because 
they
 both

show/ have/ etc

There
 are
…..
in 
both 
photographs

Both 
of
 them have
 got….
In 
them.

The 
top
 one
 looks 
more…..
than 
the 
bottom

one.

The
 one
 on 
the 
left 
is / shows/ has
…..
but 
the

one
 on 
the 
right 
is
….

This 
one 
is
 not 
as……as
 the
 other 
one.

It’s 
quite
 difficult 
to
 compare them.

This 
picture 
reminds
 me 
of
…..
whereas 

the

other
one…..




Expressing 
your 
likes,
 dislikes,
 preferences

I 
(really) 
like/ love/ enjoy
…..

I don’t
 (really) 
like….

I’m
 not
 very
 keen
 on…

I 
much
 prefer…

I’d 
prefer…

I’d 
(much)
 rather…

The 
thing 
I 
like 
the 
best 
is
….



Expressing 
your
 opinions / feelings / reactions

I 
don’t 
think 
he’s
 very 
happy 
/
 she’s
 going 
to

buy
 anything

I’m
 not
 sure 
whether
 enjoy 
it
 / people believe

I 
think
 it’d 
be
 better 
if

 they
 chose…./
we

didn’t
 go…

I
 think
 we
 should….
pay 
less
/
 choose
…

It
 makes
 me 
angry / worried /smile/ want
 to…

I
f ind
it 
really 
interesting/ awful

It
 looks 
a
 bit
 strange/ difficult

She 
looks 
as
 if
 she’s
 enjoying 
it
/ 
she
 hasn’t

slept



Agreeing 
or 
disagreeing 
with 
your partner 
(Parts
3
and
4)

I 
agree

That
 sounds 
like 
a 
good 
idea

That’s
 a
 great 
idea

You’re
 right!

That’s
 true

I’m
 not
 sure 
about
 that 
I
 don’t
 (really) 
agree

Yes,
but…



Involving
 your 
partner 
(Part
3)

What
 do
 you 
think?

Do 
you 
think 
we
 should…?

Why 
don’t
 we…?

Perhaps
 we
 should…

Let’s
 decide 
about….,
shall
 we?

What
 shall
 we
 do
 first?



Expressing 
‘for’ 
and 
‘against’
 views

The
 good/ bad 
thing ( s) 
is/are…

One
 advantage
/ disadvantage 
is…

On
 the
 other
 hand…



Speculating
He 
might
 be
 on
 holiday/ explaining

something

I 
think
 this
 would 
be
 good 
for 
him/ might 
not

help 
in 
the 
situation/ 
could 
cause
 problems

What 
would
 happen 
if
 people
 didn’t 
do

anything?

What 
if
 there
 were
 no
 opportunity 
to

change?

Perhaps/ May be 
he’s
 studying
 for 
an
 exam




Reaching 
a 
conclusion
 with 
your
 partner 
(Part
3)

(What) 
have
 we
 decided 
then?

So,
let’s
 decide
 which 
one…

I
 think
 that’s 
it,
 don’t 
you?