Classroom Language: Essential Phrases

D N Mukhiya, ELT Textbook Writer

devn8@hotmail.com Cell: 9851105118

Greetings and other conversation starters

Good morning, everybody. Good morning, class. Good morning, students.
Good afternoon, everybody. Everybody, good morning! Hello, everyone.
Hello, everyone! Good morning. Hello there, James. Hi, everybody.
How are you? How are you today? How are you getting on?
How are things with you? Are you feeling better today, Ravi? Are you OK today?
How are you this morning, Deepa? Binod, how are you today? Do you have a cold?
What a lovely day! What a rainy day! Isn’t it warm this morning?
It’s a humid day, isn’t it? Today is very cold, isn’t it?
Register/absent and present students/late comers
Attend your Roll Call. Keep quiet and listen to your roll call.
Here is your attendance please. Say present with your roll call.
Is Ravi absent today? How many students are absent today?
Who is absent today? Who isn’t here today?
What’s the matter with Nima today? What’s wrong with Ravi today?
Why were you absent last Friday? Where have you been?
We started ten minutes ago. What have you been doing? Did you miss your bus?
Did you oversleep? Don’t let it happen again.
Talking about the previous lesson
Let’s quickly review the last lesson.
Try to answer my questions.
Right / Correct / Nearly Right / Close / Almost
What did we discuss in our last class?
What did we do in our last class?
In our last class we learnt about subtraction, didn’t we?
Can you remember the lesson we discussed in our last class? What was it about?
Tell me any two things that you remembered about your last class.
Time to begin/Waiting to start/ Talking about a new lesson
Please sit down, everyone. Let’s begin today’s lesson.
It’s time to begin, please stop talking. Open your book.
Let’s begin our lesson now. Is everybody ready to start?
I hope you are all ready for your English lesson. I think we can start now.
Now we can get down to work. I’m waiting for you to be quiet.
We won’t start until everyone is quiet. Stop talking and be quiet.
Settle down now so we can start. I’m going to tell you a story.
Let’s start a new chapter. Do you know what we are going to discuss now?
Let’s talk about fruits and vegetables.
We have already completed the first part, let’s talk about the second part.
Simple instructions to make students ready
Pay attention, everybody. Are you ready?
Listen to this tape. You need pencils/rulers.
We’ll learn how to draw a map. Open your books at page 25.
Turn to page 20. Look at activity five.
Listen to this song. Repeat after me.
Again, please. You have five minutes to do this.
Who’s next? Like this, not like that.
Let’s start on page 60.  Let’s start at line 10. Please look at the blackboard.
Look at your textbooks. Now open your textbooks to page 33.
Come to the blackboard. Write this down in your notebooks.
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Please listen carefully (to me). Read this out loud.
Sony, begin reading at line 5. Mona, stop there, thank you.
Next, Nisha. How do you say it in Nepali?
Please summarize the first paragraph. What is the paragraph/section/story about?
Checking understanding
Are you ready? Are you with me? Are you OK?
OK so far? Do you get it? Do you understand?
Do you follow me? What did you say? One more time, please.
Say it again, please. I don’t understand. I don’t get it.
Like this? Is this OK? Have you understood?
Ending the lesson
It’s time to finish. Have you finished? Let’s stop now.
Stop now. Let’s check the answers. Any questions?
Collect your work please. Pack up your books. It’s almost time to stop.
I’m afraid it’s time to finish now. We’ll have to stop here.
There’s the bell. It’s time to stop. That’s all for today, you can go now.
The bell hasn’t gone yet. There are still two minutes to go.
We still have a couple of minutes left. The lesson doesn’t finish till five past.
We seem to have finished early. We have an extra five minutes. Sit quietly until the bell goes.
Making students wait for some time
Hang on a moment. Just hold on a moment.
Stay where you are for a moment. Just a moment, please.
One more thing before you go. Back to your places!
Talking about homework
This is your homework for tonight. Do exercise 10 on page 23 for your homework.
Prepare the next chapter for Monday. There is no homework tonight.
Remember your homework. Take a worksheet as you leave.
There will be no homework for today. For homework, please do the exercises on page 9.
Today’s homework is . . . Please read pages . . . to . . . for homework.
Tomorrow, we’ll study Lesson 6.
Informing them about next class
Don’t forget to bring your ......tomorrow.
We’ll do the rest of this chapter next time.
We’ll finish this exercise next lesson.
We’ve run out of time, so we’ll continue next lesson.
We’ll continue this chapter next Monday.
Taking leave/goodbye/leaving the room
Goodbye, everyone. See you again next Wednesday.
See you tomorrow afternoon. See you in room 7 after the break.
Have a good holiday. Enjoy your vacation..
Get into a queue. Form a queue and wait for the bell.
Everybody outside! All of you, get outside now!
Hurry up and get out! Try not to make any noise as you leave.
Be quiet as you leave. Other classes are still working.
Simple instructions
Come in. Go out. Stand up.
Sit down. Come to the front of the class. Stand by your desks.
Put your hands up. Put your hands down. Hold your books/pens up.
Show me your pencil. Open your books at/on page 23. Turn to page 10.
Repeat after me. Stop now. Let’s check the answers.
Collect your work please. Pack up your books. Respect others.
Put that away.              Raise your hand.                     Don’t shout.
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Don’t talk/chat.  Don’t start.             Don’t cheat.               
Don’t do it. Open your book.     Close your book.
Put your pencil down.   Continue.   Look this way.
Stop talking. Listen to what ... is saying. Leave that alone now.
Be careful. Fill in the missing words. Mark the right alternative.
Explain it in your own words. Come out and write it on the board. Finish off this lesson at home.
Let’s sing a song. Everybody, please! All together now.
The whole class, please. I want you all to join in this group. Your time is up.
I would like you to write this down. Finish this by twenty to eleven. Listen to the directions.
Say the question. Answer the question.  Work together.
Work alone.   Do it now. Check now.
Everybody, read together.    Each student reads 2 sentences.  Copy this.
Take notes. Draw a picture.  Make a sentence.
Draw a line and match.   Preview this.     Memorize this.
Underline this word/sentence.                  Finish this.  Circle the answer.  
Count the points. Please say it again. Please give us an example.
Please speak more slowly/faster. Please speak louder/softly.   Please speak in English.
Please write neatly. Please wait.  Please help the other students.
Please go downstairs and make a copy.  Please share the book. Please change seats. 
Please make the classroom neat. Please open/close the door.
Read the question and answer in English.      
Group work
Make groups of four. Move your desks into groups of four people.
Turn your desks around. Make a horseshoe shape with your desks.
Make a circle with your desks. Make a line of desks facing each other.
Make groups of four desks facing each other. Sit back to back.
Work together with your friend Find a partner
Work in pairs/threes/fours/fives. Work in groups of two/three/four.
I want you to form groups. Form groups of three
Here are some tasks for you to work on in groups of four. There are too many in this group.
Can you join the other group? Only three people in each group.
I asked for four people to a group. Everybody work individually
Work by yourselves. Work independently.
Ask your neighbour for help. Work on the task together.
Ask other people in the group. Ask others in the class.
Interview someone else. Ask everyone in the class.
Stand up and find another partner. Have you finished?
Do the next activity. Move on to the next activity.
Asking questions
Where’s Mina? Is Mina in the library? Tell me where Suman is.
What was the house like? What do you think? How can you tell?
What’s the spelling of BALL? It’s spelt with a capital “J”. Can anybody correct this sentence?
Did you do your homework?  Do you understand? Do you have your book?
What page are you on?     Are you ready?                              Are you finished?                           
What did you say?     May I ask you a question? Do you have a question?
Is this the right answer? What do you think? What is this about?                  
Can you guess? What happened? Can you help me?                           
Can I help him/her? Could you repeat that, please? How do you say this in English?
What should I do?                            How do I do this? Is this correct?                            
Is it okay?  What does this mean? What is our homework?                      
Do we have a test? When is our test? How many points do you have?
May I borrow your pencil? Could you try the next one? Which question are you on?
Who would like to read? Whose turn is it to read? Who hasn’t answered yet?
Do you want to answer question 3? Can you all see the board? Have you found the place?
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Are you all ready? Which topic will your group report on?
What is the answer to question number 3?
Error correction and feedback
Very good. That’s very good Well done.
Very fine. That’s nice. I like that.
Marvellous. You did a great job. Magnificent.
Terrific. Wow! Fantastic.
Right. Yes. Fine.
Quite right That’s right. That’s it.
That’s correct. That’s quite right. Yes, you’ve got it.
You’ve got the idea. It depends. It might be, I suppose.
You’ve improved a lot. I’m afraid that’s not quite right. You can’t use that word here.
Good try, but not quite right. Have another try. Not quite right. Try again.
Not exactly. You were almost right. That’s almost it.
You’re halfway there. You’ve almost got it. You’re on the right lines.
There’s no need to rush. There’s no hurry. We have plenty of time.
Go on. Have a try. Have a go. Have a guess.
There’s nothing wrong with your answer. What you said was perfectly all right.
You didn’t make a single mistake. That’s exactly the point.
That’s just what I was looking for. Don’t worry about your pronunciation.
Don’t worry about your spelling. Don’t worry, it’ll improve.
You have made a lot of progress. You still have some trouble with pronunciation.
You need more practice with these words. You’ll have to spend some time practising this.
You’re getting better at it all the time. You’ve improved no end.
Miscellaneous
Happy birthday! Many returns of the day! God bless you!
Have a nice weekend. Thanks for your help Merry Christmas!
Anu is eleven today. Let’s sing ‘Happy Birthday’. Good luck. Happy New Year!
All the best for the New Year! Happy Dashain! Best of luck!
I hope you all have a good Tihar. I hope you pass. Congratulations!
Well done! Never mind. Better luck next time.
Who isn’t here? What’s wrong with Jeevan today?
Do you feel better today? Are you better now?
Have you been ill? What was the matter?
I’m sorry (about that). Sorry, that was my fault.
I’m terribly sorry. Excuse me for a moment.
I’ll be back in a moment. Carry on with the exercise while I’m away.
I’ve got to go next door for a moment. Excuse me.
I’m afraid I can’t speak any louder. I seem to be losing my voice.
I have a sore throat. I have a headache.
That’s interesting! That really is very kind of you.
Don’t worry about it. I was a bit disappointed with your efforts.
Any questions? Do you have any questions?
Now I’m going to ask you some questions. Who knows the answer?
Raise your hand. Please raise your hand if you don’t understand.
Try to answer by yourself.            Try again.
A full sentence, please.  Use a full sentence please.
Make a sentence. Say it in a loud voice.
Louder, please! Again, please.
There’s the bell. That’s all for today.
The lesson is over for today. We’ve run out of time.
See you on Friday. Have a good day!
Have a nice weekend! Good job today.
Language functions used in the classroom
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State what you will do Challenging I can see your point, but ....
What I’d like to do is to discuss … Yes, but don’t you think …? I don’t see how you can argue that ...
In my talk today, … I can see your point, but …. I can’t accept that at all.
My topic today is … I think that’s debatable. Exemplification - giving examples
Today, I’m going to talk about … Perhaps, but don’t you think that …. For example, ….
I’m going to talk to you about … I see what you mean but …. For instance, ….
The subject of this talk is … I agree to some extent, but .... And as proof of that, ….
The purpose of this talk is to I see what you mean, but …. Remember …
State how you will do it But don’t you think that …? You only have to think of ….
The talk should last about ... minutes. I take your point, but …. To illustrate my/our point ....
I don’t think I’d say that.
Getting clarification Expressing method and means
I didn’t understand what you said Describing function To open the door, turn the handle.
about…. What is the function of X? Turn the handle so as to open the door.
What does … mean? What does X do? Turn the handle in order to open the
I’m not sure what you mean. What is X used for? door.
I don’t see what you mean. The thermostat controls the The radio may be turned on by pressing
Could we come back to that? temperature. the on/off switch.
I’d like to ask you about … The thermostat is used for controlling Giving instructions
So what you’re saying is that …? the temperature. First of all you ....
So you mean that …? We use a thermostat to measure the The first thing you have to do is ....
Are you saying that …? temperature. After you’ve done that, you ....
The function of the thermostat is to The next thing to do is ....
Agreeing control the temperature. Make sure you remember to ....
I couldn’t agree more. The thermostat serves to control the Be careful not to ....
I (quite) agree. temperature.
I think you’re absolutely right. A thermostat is an instrument for Expressing purpose - why something is
That’s a very good point. measuring temperature. done
You’ve got a very good point there. ... so as to … ... so as not to …
I fully support what you say. Describing objects ... so that … ... in order to …
I totally agree. Where is it? ... in order not to …
What size is it?
Disagreeing What shape is it? Giving further information
But surely …? What colour is it? Furthermore, .... An additional point is
I take your point, but ,… What is it made of? ....
I wouldn’t say that. What does it look like? Another point is .... A further point is ....
I don’t agree at all. What is it used for? A similar point is .... In
I can’t accept that. How does it work? addition, ....
Putting it in other words Moreover, .... Similarly, ....
In other words, … Expressing doubt and reservation Apart from ..., .... Not only …, but ....
That is to say, … I’m not so sure about that. We can add .... I could add that ....
To put it another way, … You may be right. Further, .... As well as...,....
The point I’m making is … I don’t think I’d say that. Besides, .... ..., as well.
What I’m suggesting is …, Yes, but don’t you think …?
Let me put it another way. I can see your point, but … Giving background information
I think that’s debatable. As we know, ....
Giving opinions I see what you mean but … As we have already seen, ....
I definitely think that.... I agree to some extent, but ... As we have all read, ....
I’m sure that.... It seems to me ... It’s clear that, ....
I’m convinced that.... It goes without saying, ....
I really do think that.... Evaluating We all understand, ....
I’m of the opinion that ... That’s a good idea. It is understood, ....
As I see it, .... You’ve got a good point there. You’ll remember, ....
I think .... I agree entirely.
I consider .... That’s exactly what we need. Giving opinions
I feel .... I’m not sure what you mean by .... I definitely think that....
Personally, I believe ... That’s an interesting point, but .... I’m sure that....
In my opinion/view, .... You might be right. I’m convinced that....
It seems to me .... That’s all very well, but .... I really do think that....
I’m inclined to think that ... I’m not so sure about that. I’m of the opinion that ...
I tend to think that .... Yes, but don’t you think .... As I see it, ....
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I think .... … are made up of…/… organized in… important information. The lecturer can
I consider .... … is a self-contained unit use these signals to draw your attention
I feel .... … contains…/… feels/looks like… to the important points.
Personally, I believe ... … are separated from… I want to stress…../I want to highlight
In my opinion/view, .... … are small… I’d like to emphasise
It seems to me .... … tend to be… I’d like to put emphasis on
I’m inclined to think that ... … can take other shapes… It’s important to remember that
I tend to think that … it includes…/… have… We should bear in mind that
… is a part that contains…/ consist of… Don’t forget that
Using visuals … are joined together… (to…) The crucial point is
On this graph, …. Some imperatives The essential point is
Take a look at this. Turn your book to page 13. The fundamental point is
Let’s have a look at this. Take out your book and pencils. Furthermore,……What’s more,
I’d like you to look at this. Have a bath regularly. This supports my argument that,
I’d like to draw your attention to …. Get your work completed. It follows, therefore, that
Here we can see …. Get your homework checked. What (in effect) we are saying is
The … represents …. Come in front of the class. Moving on/Changing direction
The graph illustrates …. Don’t stand up on the bench. The lecture will be organised around
As you can see, …. Don’t throw your books. several different points. It is important to
Warning Don’t look here and there. notice when the lecturer moves from one
Look out. Be careful. Listen to me properly. point to the next.
I warn you it’s going to be difficult. Don’t tear your books. That’s all I want to say about X.
If you’re not careful, there might be an Open your book. Stand up. Having looked at …, I’d now like to
accident. Be ready. Get ready. consider
Some sentences used in the classroom Be punctual. Look at me. I’d like now to move on to
“Children, look at what I have here Ask me a question. Be smart. Turning now to
today.” Be intelligent. Rub the board. I now want to turn to
Look at the objects on the table. Read Chapter 3. Tell me about…… The next point is
I want you to look this bag full of objects. Don’t look outside. Don’t make a Another interesting point is
“Good.” “Yes, that’s right” noise. The next aspect I’d like to consider is
Don’t copy others. Never be late. I’d now like to turn to
Assigning task/roles Don’t push others. Let’s now look at
“These two groups here are groups A Introducing Classifying
and B” At the beginning of a lecture, or a When we classify, we arrange members
“Look at this picture. What animal is it?” section of a lecture, the lecturer will give of a group. The lecturer may use the
“Where is the habitat of this animal?” you some idea about the structure of the following signals to show that a
“Can anyone explain the physical lecture. Listen for these signals as it will classification is being made.
characteristics of this animals?” help you understand what the lecturer is There are …
“Class, sit in six groups. There should saying. types/kinds/classes/categories/sorts/vari
be at least five persons in each group.” What I intend to say is eties/consists of/comprises/can be
“Each group is given a set of apparatus. What I’d like to do is to discuss divided into
They are on the table at the back.” What I intend to do is to explain X may be classified according to on the
“The steps for the experiment are in the In my talk today, basis of/ depending on
worksheet. Read then carefully before My topic today is Today, Concluding
you carry out the experiment.” I’m going to talk about The lecture should end with a summary
“Next, measure the circumstance and I’m going to talk to you about of the main points made. The following
the diameter of the five circles using Today I want to consider signals will help you to identify this.
thread and ruler” In this talk, I would like to concentrate on So,
“I want every group to draw five circles The subject of this talk is We’ve seen that
of different sizes” The purpose of this talk is to First we looked at … and we saw that
“Who can tell the class how you got the This talk is designed to Then we considered … and I argued
answer” Showing importance/Emphasizing that
“What is your answer?” When you are taking notes, you cannot In short,
write down every word. You need to To sum up
distinguish between important and less In conclusion,
Verb phrases I’d like to emphasize that