Asking for clarification/more information

 I didn't understand what you said about .

 I'm sorry, I didn't catch what you said about .

 I'm sorry, could you repeat what you said about .

 Sorry, but I'm not quite clear on .

 I'd like to ask you about .

 I didn't understand the bit about the ...

 What does . mean?

 I'm not sure what you mean.

 I don't see what you mean.

 Could we come back to that?

 Could you explain that again, please?

 What did you mean when you said .?

 Could you be more specific about .?

 Could you expand a little bit on what you said about .?

 Could you give an example of .?

 Could you explain in more detail.?

 So you're telling me that I can't .?

 So what you're saying is that .?

 So you mean that .?

 Are you saying that .?

 Am I correct in assuming that .?

 Let me just make sure - your point is that .

 If I have understood you correctly, your point is that .

Asking for information

 Excuse me.

 Could you tell me ...?

 Could you tell me how to ...?

 Would you mind telling me ...?

 Do you know ...?

 What happens if ...?

 Where can I ...?

 When can I ...?

 How can I ...?

  Something else I'd like to know is ....

Changing the subject/moving on

 OK

 Now

 All right

 I think we've finished that item.

 If we can now turn to ....

 Can we move on to the next point now.

 I'd like now to move on to ..

 Turning now to..

 Moving on now to.

 Having looked at ., I'd now like to consider ..

 I now want to turn to ....

 The next point is ..

 Another interesting point is ..

 The next aspect I'd like to consider is ..

 I'd now like to turn to ..

 What do you think about X?

Checking that people are following

 Is that clear?

 Is everyone following?

 All right?

 OK?

 All right so far?

 Are you with me?

 Do you see what I mean?

Checking that you have understood

 So you're telling me that I can't ..

 So what you're saying is that ..

 So you mean that ..

 Are you saying that .?

 Am I correct in assuming that .?

 Let me just make sure - your point is that .

 If I have understood you correctly, your point is that .

 Similarly, it has a W.
Likewise, it has a W.
X has a Y. Correspondingly, it has a W.
It has a W, too.
It also has a W.

Contrasting

with respect to W.
X differs from Y
as regards W.
X is unlike Y
as far as W is concerned.
X and Y differ
regarding W.
X is different from Y
in terms of W.
X contrasts with Y
in W.

Controlling the discussion

 Let's start by looking at ....

 So, I think we have agree that ....

 Well, I think that covers everything.

 Does anyone disagree with this?

 Does anyone have any comments or questions?

 So is this the same as your experience?

 So, Y, what is your opinion of this?

 X, what do you think?

 Don't you agree, X?

increased
slightly
shot up slowly
grew gradually
rose steadily
markedly
X
declined dramatically
reduced steeply
decreased sharply
dropped rapidly
fell suddenly

reached a peak.
X
levelled off

Describing processes, developments and changes

  I'd like to show you how to ....

 There are three main steps in this process....

 The first/second/third step is ...

Firstly, The first step is

First of all, The first stage is

To begin with, ... begins with

Initially ... commences with

Beforehand, Before this,

Previously, Prior to this,

Earlier,

At the same time, During

Simultaneously, When this happens

While

Secondly, Thirdly etc After this,

Next, The next step is

Then, In the next stage,

Subsequently, In the following stage,

Later, Following this,

As soon as the committee has finished its work, ...

Eventually, ... until ...

Lastly ... finishes with ...

 Finally, concludes with

In the last stage, The last step is ...

Disagreeing

 But don't you think that .?

 I see what you mean, but ..

 But isn't it really a question of ..

 But what about .?

 But surely .?

 I take your point, but ..

 Yes, but on the other hand ....

 But all the evidence suggests that ..

 I'm afraid I can't agree with . on this matter.

 I wouldn't say that.

 I don't agree at all.

 I can't accept that.

Expressing doubt and reservation

 Well . maybe . possibly .

 I'm not so sure about that.

 You may be right.

 I don't think I'd say that.

 Yes, but don't you think .?

 I can see your point, but .

 I think that's debatable.

 Perhaps, but don't you think that .

 I see what you mean but .

 I agree to some extent, but ...

 It seems to me ...

 I tend to think ...

Encouraging

 That's a good idea.

 Good.

 Why don't you ...?

 Go on.
Emphasising a point

 I want to stress ....

 I want to highlight ....

 I'd like to emphasise ....

 I'd like to put emphasis on ....

 It's important to remember that ....

 We should bear in mind that ....

 Don't forget that ....

 The crucial point is ....

 The essential point is ....

 The fundamental point is ....

 Furthermore, ....

 What's more, ....

 This supports my argument that, ....

 It follows, therefore, that ....

 What (in effect) we are saying is ....

Evaluating

 That's a good idea.

 That's a very good point.

 You've got a good point there.

 I agree entirely.

 That's exactly what we need.

 I'm not sure what you mean by ....

 That's an interesting point, but ....

 You might be right.

 That's all very well, but ....

 I'm not so sure about that.

 Yes, but don't you think ....

 I can see your point, but ....

 You seem to have forgotten ....

 Very interesting. How exactly do you propose to ..?

 I don't see how you can argue that ...

 I can't accept that at all.

Exemplification - giving examples

  For example, ..

 For instance, ..

 And as proof of that, ..

 Remember .

 You only have to think of ..

 To illustrate my/our point ....

Expressing method and means

 To open the door, turn the handle.

 Turn the handle so as to open the door.

 Turn the handle in order to open the door.

 The radio may be turned on by pressing the on/off switch.

Expressing certainty

Verbs Degree of certainty

certain(ly)
is (not)
definite(ly)
complete certainty will (not)
clear(ly)
must (not)
undoubtedly

can/cannot probably (is)

strong
should (not presumably

partial could (not) likely/unlikely

may (not) possibly (not)

less strong
might (not) perhaps (not)

It is said that ...

It appears that ...
impersonal (i.e. no commitment)
A reports that ...
There is evidence to suggest that. (etc.)

Following up a question

 That's not really what I was asking. My question is about ..

 Perhaps I didn't make my question clear. In fact what I asked was .

 I think you've answered a slightly different question. What I would like to know is .

 I understand that but what I actually had in mind was .

 Sorry, I'm still not clear about .

Generalising

Percentage Quantity Frequency Certainty Verbs

100% all/every/each always certain(ly) will

most definite(ly) is/are
a majority (of) undoubtedly must
 many/much usual(ly) clearly have to
normal(ly) presumably
general(ly) probably/probable should
as a rule likely ought to
some on the whole
a number (of)
several often conceivably can
frequent(ly) possibly/possible could
a minority (of) sometimes perhaps may
a few/a little occasional(ly) maybe might

few/little rare(ly) uncertain

seldom unlikely
hardly ever could not
scarcely ever will not
cannot
0% no/none/not any never is/are not

 . throughout which.

Offering

 Would you like a ...?

 Would you care for some ...?

 How about a ...?

 Can I get you a ...?

 Can I ...?

 I'll ....

 Why don't I ...?

 Is there anything I can do?

 Shall I ...?

 Would you like me to ...?

Predicting

Percentage Certainty Verbs

100% certain(ly) Of course, it'll ....

will
definite(ly) It's sure to ....
is/are
undoubtedly There's no doubt that it'll ...
must
clearly It's bound to ....
have to
presumably I expect it'll ....
should
probably/probable I wouldn't be surprised if it ...ed.
ought to
likely I bet it'll ....
can
conceivably There's a chance it'll ....
could
possibly/possible It's possible that it'll ....
may
perhaps It might possibly ....
might
maybe I suppose it might ....

uncertain could not

unlikely I doubt if it'll ... will not
I don't think it'll ... cannot
0% There's not much chance of it ...ing. is/are not
 certain(ly) not Of course, it won't ...
definite(ly) not There's no chance of it ...ing.
I'm absolutely sure it won't ...

 As X stated/states, "... ..."

Sequencing

Firstly, The first step is

First of all, The first stage is

To begin with, . begins with

Initially . commences with

Beforehand, Before this,

Previously, Prior to this,

Earlier,

At the same time, During

Simultaneously, When this happens

While

Secondly, Thirdly etc After this,

Next, The next step is

Then, In the next stage,

Subsequently, In the following stage,

Later, Following this,

As soon as the committee has finished its work, .

 Eventually, . until .

Lastly . finishes with .

Finally, concludes with

In the last stage, The last step is .

Speeding up things

 Can we move on to the next point, please.

 We need to move on quickly, now.

 The next point is .

 Sorry, that's all we have time for.

 I think we'd better end now.

Summarising

 It was generally felt that .

 Generally speaking, we felt .

 On the whole .

 We couldn't agree on .

 Opinion was divided on .

 We had some difficulty in deciding .

 We decided that the best way was to .

 After some discussion we reached a compromise on .