Useful CAE phrases
To give opinion
1. In my humble opinion,
2. I reckon
3. Frankly speaking/Frankly
4. To be frank
5. As far as I’m concerned
6. It seems to me
7. All things considered
8. I would hazard to guess
9. From what I can gather
10.As far as I can gather
11.So, off the top of my head
12.Just of the top of my head
13.I do think/ I do feel/ I do believe
14.From where I stand = according to what I
feel and see
15.I tend towards the opinion that …
16.I think it’s fair/reasonable to say …
17.I’ll tell you what I think, …
18.I’m entirely/quite convinced that …
19.I’ve come the conclusion that …
20.If I must come up with an opinion / If you
(really) want my opinion, …
21.In my limited experience, …
22.It could/might well be that …
23.Know what I think? …
24.My opinion was best expressed by …
when s/he said/wrote …
25.My view/position on this (issue) (is clear
and) is that …
26.Plainly, …
27.Quite frankly, …
28.There is a part of me that says …
29.This may well be controversial, but …
30.To my mind / To my way of thinking, ...
31.To summarise my (rather complex) views
on the matter, …
32.What I always say is …
33.With some reservations, …
34.Without a shred/shadow of doubt, …
35.You’d have to be crazy not to agree that
36.Correct me if I’m wrong, but….
To agree/disagree
Expressing agreement
1. I agree with you 100 percent.
2. I couldn't agree with you more.
3. That's so true.
4. That's for sure.
5. (slang) Tell me about it!
6. You're absolutely right.
7. Absolutely.
8. That's exactly how I feel.
9. Exactly.
10.I'm afraid I agree with James.
11.I have to side with Dad on this one.
12.No doubt about it.
13.(agree with negative statement) Me
neither.
14.(weak) I suppose so./I guess so.
15.You have a point there.
16.I was just going to say that.
Asking for an opinion/Involving your partner
1. What's your idea?
2. What are your thoughts on all of this?
3. How do you feel about that?
4. Do you have anything to say about this?
5. What do you think?
6. Do you agree?
7. Wouldn't you say? (But) aren’t you
forgetting...?
8. Aren’t you assuming that...?
9. Aren’t you jumping to conclusions?
10.Doesn’t that opinion mean that...?
11.Have you taken... into consideration? Am
I justified in saying … ?
12.Am I right in thinking … ?
13.Any objections to the statement … ?
14.Are you convinced by the argument that
…?
15.Are you of the opinion that … ?
16.Does … tally(correspond) with your
experience?
17.I’d guess your view on this is …
18.Is it in fact the case that … ?
19.What reaction do you have to … ?
Expressing disagreement
1. I don't think so.
2. (strong) No way.
3. I'm afraid I disagree.
4. (strong) I totally disagree.
5. I beg to differ.
6. (strong) I'd say the exact opposite.
7. Not necessarily.
8. That's not always true.
9. That's not always the case.
10.No, I'm not so sure about that.
11.(You may as well) stop right there.
12.Do you genuinely believe that?
13.I can see no merit in that view at all.
14.I can’t go along with that.
15.I completely fail to see the logic in...
16.I find that very difficult to accept.
17.Life would be much easier if that were
true, but...
18.Quite the opposite! ...
Interruptions
1. Can I add something here?
2. Is it okay if I jump in for a second?
3. If I might add something...
4. Can I throw my two cents in?
5. Sorry to interrupt, but...
6. (after accidentally interrupting
someone) Sorry, go ahead. OR Sorry, you
were saying...
7. (after being interrupted) You didn't let
me finish.
SHOWING UNCERTAINTY
1. I’m torn between X and Y.
2. I can’t make up my mind.
3. I’m not certain, but… maybe / I might
4. I doubt it.
5. I’m not (really) sure about that, (because)
….
6. I don’t know for sure.
7. I have my doubts.
 20.What’s your take on … ?
21.Would I be right in assuming that you
think … ?
22.Would I be right in saying … ?
23.Would I/it be wrong to say … ?
24.Would it be logical to say … ?
25.Would you have any problems with the
statement … ?
26.Would … be a fair summary of your views
on … ?
27.Would … be out of the question?

Buy yourself some time Paraphrase what you are trying to say
1. Let me see. 1. Let me try and rephrase that.
2. That’s an interesting / tough / tricky 2. What I’m trying to say is….
question. 3. It’s kind of like a….
3. I’m not quite sure about what to say 4. It’s similar to….
here, but… 5. Let me put it this/that way
4. Wow, I haven’t thought about that
question before.
Descriptions of pictures
TALKING ABOUT SIMILARITIES
1. In both photos …
2. Both of … are …
3. They both seem to be …
4. Neither of them is …
5. In this one … and in this one …
6. Similarly, …
7. Another similarity is …
8. As in the first photo, …
9. What both photos have in common is, …
10.They have a lot in common.
11.LIKE: He’s tall like his father.
12.AS: She’s as beautiful as her mother.
GIVING YOURSELF TIME TO THINK
1. I’m not sure.
2. It’s hard to say.
3. I can’t make out … / I can’t tell …
GIVING YOURSELF TIME TO THINK
1. I’m not sure.
2. It’s hard to say.
3. I can’t make out … / I can’t tell …
EXPRESSING CERTAINTY/UNCERTAINTY
1. There’s no denying (the fact) that…
2. I’m convinced that…
3. There’s no doubt (at all) that…
4. I think I can say with confidence that…
5. It is/seems obvious that…
6. It’s doubtful that…
7. I’m not (at all) convinced that…
8. I can’t say with any confidence
TALKING ABOUT DIFFERENCES
1. The first one shows…while/whereas the
second one …
2. One significant difference is ...
3. The main difference between them is …
4. Unlike the first photo, …
5. They don’t have a lot in common.
6. On the other hand, …
7. Nevertheless, …
8. Whereas, …
9. Having said that, …
10.Although, …
11.However, …
TALKING ABOUT PARTS OF THE PHOTO
1. In the centre, … / In the foreground, … /
In the
2. background, …
3. On the left, … / On the right, …
4. At the top, … / At the bottom, …
SPECULATING ABOUT THINGS YOU DO NOT
KNOW
1. Perhaps, … / Possibly, … / Maybe, …
2. can’t be / could be / must be
3. It looks as if…
4. It doesn’t look like…
5. I can’t be completely sure…
6. I don’t know why…
7. I may be wrong about this…
8. I suppose it/he/she/they might be…
9. This is just a guess, but…
10.I can/can’t imagine that…
11.I can’t say if/whether…
12.I’m not certain if/whether…
13.In all probability, …
14.I’d have to say that…