CAE Describe and Compare Photos - Useful Expressions [PDF]

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PART 2 - Describe, compare and contrast a set of photos – Useful expressions Similarities: 1. Both photos show… 2. They all depict… 3. The theme that connects them is… 4. Each picture illustrates how… 5. All the photos show problems which… 6. The photos deal with different aspects of… Describing a picture: The/Each photograph shows/is of a person/people doing something dangerous/taking a risk with their lives. In one photograph there’s something that looks like a…I think it’s a thing for… Speculating: It looks as if/though they’re enjoying themselves. They must feel quite exhilarated/extremely relieved. I imagine/suppose they’re the sort of people who… Judging from his/her clothes, I’d say he/she was As far as I can see from the landscape/background the photo was probably taken in… My feeling is that this picture focuses more on… than the other ones. It seems to me that this image conjures up… Expressing opinions: Personally, I think…/ In my opinion/view…/As far as I’m concerned …/ To be honest …/ The impression I get is that… / As far as I know… / Speaking for myself…/ I'd say that…/ In my experience… / I'd like to point out that… / I believe that… / What I mean is… / My personal view is that .../ I might be wrong but … / It seems to me that.. Describing similarities and differences: 1. compared to… 2. in contrast to… 3. similar/almost identical to… 4. slightly/completely different from

5. (not) as (spacious) as 6. less (modern, luxurious) than 7. in a similar position to/different position from 8. Compared with…. ….is much more ….than…. ….is only suitable for… 9. In the first photo, we can see …, but the other photo shows … 10. The main difference between the photos is... 11. In the first picture...whereas the other picture... 12. Unlike.... this looks like... 13. Neither of them... 14. In the same way... Other phrases: What strikes me about the first picture is the fact that... This picture reminds me of... Judging from the photograph, the children... The man appears to be... From what we can see here, he must... There are many similarities... Both pictures are quite similar in that they show... When you give it a closer look it reveals...

The first picture ... whereas the other picture ... Another important difference is... Picture ... doesn't show ... as clearly as ... Picture ... attempts to ... but I think picture ... does this more effectively... All pictures are interesting, but ... gives a stronger idea of...

It's difficult to tell from a photograph but this picture could have been taken in ... I might be wrong, but I'd say that this picture ... I would imagine/guess that this picture comes from ...

Picture ... is by far the best to show because ... To me, picture ... is essential for this kind of publication.

PART 3 Up to the problem in question .../ The main problem centres around ... It's my belief ... For my part ... As I see it ... As I was saying ... I forgot to mention ... I'm of the opinion that ... To my mind ... To my way of thinking ... I am convinced that ... I am inclined to believe that ...

Don't get me wrong but shouldn't we ... ? Judging by ... they must be ... ... is a separate issue. Moving on to ... Taking everything into account ...

I couldn't agree more. I agree up to a point. I think I see what you mean, but ... I'm in two minds about it. / I'm ambivalent about ... I don't see eye to eye with you here ... That's true in a way, I suppose, but ... I don't feel convinced ... That's one way of looking at it. On the other hand ...

Can you take a clear stand on that matter? It brings to the question / idea / problem of ...

Perhaps we should put ... first? What do you think? A strong point in favour of ... is that ... What do you think should go next? Are you happy with this order then? Do you go along with that?

Tips! It will help both yourself and your partner if you work together collaboratively on this task. 1. Be prepared to ask your partner for his or her opinion rather than simply stating your own. 2. Listen 'actively' to what your partner says, responding to comments he or she makes. Use expressions such as the following to comment on something: "That's an interesting point." "I was interested in what you said about ..." "So, when you say ........, do you mean ........?" "Could you explain what you mean by .......?"

3. Use expressions to allow yourself time to think. For example: 'That's a good question.', 'Well, let me think ...' 4. In order to bring the discussion to a constructive conclusion try using expressions such as the following: "So, weighing up the pros and cons, do you think …?" "Are we generally in agreement that …?" "So, all in all do we feel …?" "Essentially, do we all agree that …?" "So, to sum up …" "So, in general …" "It seems we’ve reached the conclusion that …"