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IELTS Speaking Function Seven
How to Speculate in English
The word "speculate" in English is basically the same as "guess"! When you guess about something - about the future, about an idea,
about a situation that is not certain, or about any unknown situation, you can simply use the future tense in English if
you believe strongly in your idea. You can add language that we use when we
express an opinion
or when we justify an opinion.
Another simple pattern that you can use on the IELTS test is this patter:
If + past participle + conditional
Example: If the world were coming to an end, we would be lucky to find a spaceship so we
could escape!
When you are talking about a conditional situation (not a real situation) in English, be sure to continue using the
conditional tense as you describe possible results. For example, after talking about having a spaceship above, you could say:
If we had a spaceship, we could fly to the moon or to Mars.
We would have to be careful to choose the best people who could help us live in our new world
We might have some trouble from people who are not chosen to come with us in our spaceship!.
One mistake that students often make when talking about speculative ideas in English is that they confuse different word forms. Be
sure to understand the difference between "possible" (adjective), "possibly" (adverb) and "possibilities" (noun).
When speculating in English, you have the chance to be very creative. If you say "Some people would say ..." and add something totally
crazy, you can always say that you don't agree with those people! In other words, you can show the IELTS examiner how well
you can speculate, without seeming to be foolish! So, have fun using these English expressions to get a better score on the test.
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