CAE Speaking tips: Speculation is a large part of the speaking part 2 of the CAE exam. Remember that in part two you need to compare and contrast and often use speculation to say what or why someone is doing in the photos. To see more about how to compare and contrast click here.
On part 2 of the Speaking task it is quite possible that they will ask you something like: ‘Why do people chose to participate in these activities’ or ‘How do they feel about it?’ For both of these questions, you should use speculation since you do not know exactly why people chose these activities or how they are truly feeling. The following examples are ways to show speculation.
It seems like…
- Always use a noun and verb following this phrase.
- It seems like they might be trying to get someone’s attention.
- Maybe there was some kind of misunderstanding since it seems like he is embarrassed.
It could be that…
- this is show hypothesis
- It could be that they are waiting for someone to arrive and that is why they are looking off into the distance.
- Since she looks a bit older, it could be that she finds it very difficult to work a computer since she is older.
They might have…
- Again this can be used to hypothesize
- it is very similar than they could have…
- They might have just received some bad news and that’s why they look so down.
- They might have gotten lost and that’s why they are having an argument.
Perhaps…
- this is used in the same way as maybe
- Perhaps they are talking about how the child feels about school.
- She looks quite excited, so perhaps she just won a contest or something similar.
It seems to me that…
- this phrase is used to hypothesize but also shows a bit of an opinion.
- It seems to me that they are enjoying themselves whereas in the second photo they might have been forced to participate.
- Although they look like they could be family, it seems to me that they don’t feel comfortable together.
Maybe…
- This used in a similar way as perhaps. It is the simple translation of tal vez.
- Maybe they are talking about their plans for the summer or about vacation.
- She seems to be really upset so maybe they are breaking up.
Common mistakes
Remember that in CAE Speaking tips: Speculation is really important for this part of the exam. Spanish students often misuse modal verbs or overuse ‘it’s possible that…’. For example:
| It could be that. | |
| He is possibly upset because he lost something. |
Now that you have seen CAE Speaking tips: Speculation, have a look at our other CAE tips:
CAE Speaking tips: agreeing
CAE Speaking tips: comparing
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