English Communication Skills

Head of the Forum

English Communication Skills

Showing that you're listening

Now, you mentioned
So, that's how
Yes, I was going to ask you about that
Could you give me / us an example of
Could you explain in more detail

Showing interest

Uh-huh
Right
Really
That's interesting
And
What then
Oh
What happened next

Thanking and responding

Many thank s
Thank s a lot
Cheers
That's very kind of you
Thank you very much
Not at all
It's a pleasure. / My pleasure
You're welcome
Don't mention it
Any time
That's OK / all right
I'm glad to have been of some help

Asking for information

Excuse me. Could you tell me where ... is
Excuse me. Can you tell me
Do you know
You wouldn't know..., would you
Do you happen to know
I'd like to know..., please
And there's another thing I'd like to know
I would be interested to know
Please could you tell me

Asking for directions

Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to ... (place) please
Which way is the ... (place), please
Could you tell me where ... is, please
Do you know where ... is

Asking someone to repeat

Could you say that again, please
Would you mind repeating that, please
Could you repeat that, please
I'm sorry I didn't catch that
I'm sorry, what was ... again
I'm sorry
I beg your pardon
I'm sorry, what was that

Checking that you've understood

So, I / We have to
Do you want me / us to
Am I / Are we supposed to
Should I
So, the (general/basic) idea is to
Do you mean
Does this mean that
So am I right in saying
So, what you're saying is

Expressing uncertainty

I'm not really sure but I think
I can't say for certain but
It's difficult to say exactly but perhaps
I couldn't say, really
I'm not sure
I don't know for sure but

Giving yourself time to think

Well, let me see
Let me think
Let me get this right
Um, well, that's a difficult question / that's an interesting question
I'll have to / Let me think about that for a moment
I think it's difficult to answer that question
How shall I put it?
Now, how can I best say this

Interrupting politely

Could I just say something
Actually, I'd just like to say
Sorry to interrupt, but
Oh, while I remember / before I forget
Excuse me
May I interrupt

Saying you don't know

I'm afraid I can't help you
I'm sorry, I don't know

Apologising

Sorry
I'm very/awfully/so/extremely sorry
Excuse me
Sorry, (it was) my fault
I do apologise
Please accept my apologies
Accepting an apology
That's all right/OK
Not to worry
That's quite/perfectly all right
No reason/need to apologise
Don't worry about it

Giving instructions

Make sure
Remember... (to do
Be careful... (not to do
Don't forget... (to do

Giving directions

Go straight on
Take the first/second on the left / right
Turn left / right
Go along... as far as
Take the number 7 bus / tram
Get off (the bus / tram) at... (place)
Carry on until you see
Look out for

Checking someone has understood

Are you with me
Did you follow that
Have you got that
Is everything clear so far
Does that seem to make sense

Sequencing actions

First of all
Next
Then
After that
Finally

Making suggestions

Shall I / we... (do
Let's... (do
Why don't I / we... (do
How about... (doing
What about... (doing
I think we should... (do
I suggest that we... (do
It might be a good idea if we / you... (do
I think the best way of dealing with this situation would be to... (do
If you ask me, I think we / you should... (do
We could

Agreeing to a suggestion

Yes, I think that's a good idea
That's probably the best option
Sure, why not
Yes, definitely
By all means
Good idea

Rejecting a suggestion

Yes, but wouldn't it be better to... (do
That's a good idea, but... (do

Making invitations

What are you doing on... (day
Have you got any plans for... (day/time of day
Would you like to... (do
Do you fancy... (doing
What about... (doing

Accepting an invitation

Yes, I'd love to
Yes, that would be great

Refusing an invitation

I'm afraid I'm busy on... (day). How about next... (day
I'm sorry I can't. I'm... (doing something else
I'm afraid I can't make it. I'm... (doing something else
I'd love to, but
That's very kind of you, but

Expressing a preference

I'd much rather... (do) than... (do something else
I prefer... to
I'd prefer to... (do
I think... is much more interesting than
I don't find... half as interesting as
I like... better than

Making recommendations

You mustn't miss the
You must go to the
You've got to... (do
You'll love the
I wouldn't recommend the
You definitely wouldn't enjoy going to the

Offering something

Would you like
What can I get you
Help yourself to
Please have some
Would you care for some
Can I offer you
Can I get you a... / anything

Accepting something that's offered

Yes, please
Thank you very much
That would be very nice
I'd like some... , please

Declining something that's offered

I'm all right/I'm fine, thank you
No, thank yousize]
[size=16]Not this time, thank you
I'm not sure I could, thank you
Asking for advice
What do you think I should do
What would you do (if you were in my situation
What would you advise me to do

Giving advice

I think you should... (do
You could... (do
Why don't you... (do
If I were you, I'd... (do
Have you tried... (doing

Asking for permission

Can I.../May I..., please
Do you mind if I
Mind if I
Any chance I could
I wonder/I was wondering if I could
Would it be possible for me to
Do you have any objection if I
Would it bother you if I

Giving permission

Of course
By all means
Certainly
Yes, that's OK/fine
You're welcome to
Please feel free to
Please don't hesitate to
Sure
OK
Go ahead
Why not

Refusing permission

I'm afraid not. I'm sorry it's not possible
I'm afraid you can't
I'm afraid that's out of the question

Agreeing

I'd probably agree on that
I think that's probably right
That's absolutely right
Sure! That's exactly what I think
I couldn't agree with you more
That's what I think

Disagreeing

Yes, but
True, but
I see what you mean, but
I suppose so, but
Yes, but on the other hand
I'm afraid I disagree / don't agree / can't agree
I'm not sure if that's strictly true
You have a point there, but
Actually, I'm not sure if I agree with that

Asking what someone thinks

What do you think
What do you reckon
What's your opinion about/of
What's your position on
What's your reaction to
What's your take on
Do you have any thoughts on

Stating consequences

As a result
Consequently
Because of this
Due to (cause

Expressing two points of view

On the one hand..., on the other hand
Although I'd..., I certainly wouldn't
While I might..., I don't think I'd
Of course I'd..., but I'm not sure if I'd
There's no doubt that it would..., but there's also a chance it might

Giving examples

For example
For instance
One example of this is
To give you an idea
Look at the case of
Take, for example
Let' say

Justifying your opinions

Personally, I (don't) think... because
Let's (not)... because
In my opinion, I (don't) feel... because
I would definitely (not)... because
It would be better to... as
I (don't) feel that it's important to... as

Linking what you're saying

Anyway
True, but
As a matter of fact
... sort of
Hmm
... you know
... believe me

Ordering / Sequencing

First of all
To start with
Secondly
Another thing is that
Alternatively
Last but not least

Persuading

But don't you agree that
Yes, but I'm sure you'd agree that
Don't you think that
Presenting an opinion
Personally, I think that
It seems to me that
From my point of view
In my opinion

Prioritising

... would be much more important than
I don't think... would be nearly as important / urgent as
... will definitely be the most / least

Speculating

It's difficult to say exactly but I suppose it could be
I'm not sure but it might be
It can't be... because
It must be... because
I would guess

Summarising

So what it comes down to is
The point I'm trying to make is
Let me just recap what's been said so far
In short
To sum up
Basically
Overall, it would seem that

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Site Reviewer

It's a pleasure to read yor posts , madam.

Thank you our dear administrator

Site Owner

Very Useful.Thank you

Head of the Forum

You are welcome dears!