Part 3: speculating, comparing and evaluating
Most Part 3 questions ask you to predict the future, compare then and now, weigh up pros and cons, or imagine a hypothetical situation. Learn a toolkit and a simple answer shape for each of these four question families, plus the hedging that makes your claims precise rather than vague.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Recognise the four Part 3 question families (future, past vs present, evaluation, hypothetical) from their signal words.
- Speculate about the future on a scale of certainty: is bound to, will probably, is likely to, could well, I'd imagine, I doubt that…
- Compare past and present accurately with used to, would, the present perfect and modified comparatives.
- Evaluate advantages and drawbacks and reach a clear verdict with on balance and outweigh.
- Discuss hypothetical situations with the second conditional and if… were to….
- Hedge claims so they are exactly as strong as your evidence, neither absolute nor vague.
Four questions the examiner is almost certain to ask
Here is a typical Part 3 discussion after a cue card about a journey:
- How has public transport in your country changed in recent years?
- Do you think people will still drive their own cars in thirty years' time?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in a big city?
- What would happen if governments made public transport free?
That's four questions with four different jobs: comparing past and present, speculating about the future, evaluating, and imagining a hypothetical situation. Almost every Part 3 discussion includes at least two of them, because Part 3 is officially designed to test your ability to express and justify opinions and to analyse, discuss and speculate about issues.
These questions are also where your Grammatical Range and Accuracy score is often decided. A band 6 candidate tends to answer all four in the present simple: ‘People use cars. In future people use more cars.’ A band 7–8 candidate naturally reaches for will probably, used to, has become far more, the main drawback is that, if they were to…, I'd imagine…. That is the range of structures used flexibly that the band descriptors reward.
The good news is that each family has a small toolkit you can learn and a simple answer shape. In the last lesson you learned AEEA for why and opinion questions. This lesson adds four more shapes, one for each family.
The four question families at a glance
| Family | Signal words in the question | Answer shape | Core language |
|---|---|---|---|
Speculating about the future | Will…? Do you think … in the future? How might … change? What will … be like in twenty years? | Prediction → Reason → Caveat | will probably, is likely to, could well, I'd imagine, I doubt that… |
Comparing past and present | How has … changed? Is … better now than in the past? How was … different when your parents were young? | Then → Now → Why → So what | used to, would, has become, far more / much less, compared with a generation ago |
Evaluating | What are the advantages and disadvantages of…? Is it a good thing that…? Which is more important…? | Plus → Minus → Verdict | the main advantage, one drawback, the flip side, outweigh, on balance |
Hypothetical | What would happen if…? Should the government…? Imagine that… If you could… | Immediate effect → Knock-on effect → Catch | If … were to…, it would…, I suspect…, it could well…, the catch is… |
1. Speculating about the future: choose your level of certainty
Nobody knows the future, and the examiner doesn't expect you to. What they listen for is whether you can signal how sure you are. Band 6 candidates tend to use only will (too certain) or maybe (too vague). Band 8 candidates move along a scale.
The answer shape: Prediction → Reason → Caveat
- Prediction, with a clear degree of certainty: I'd imagine cash will become much less common, but I doubt it'll disappear completely.
- Reason, meaning what's driving the change: Mobile banking is already so widespread that even street vendors in Dhaka accept bKash.
- Caveat, meaning a condition, an exception or a timescale: That said, a lot depends on older people in rural areas, who still trust notes and coins far more than an app.
Time expressions make predictions sound precise: in the next decade or so, in twenty years' time, by the middle of the century, in the long run, sooner or later, for the foreseeable future, within a generation.
Grammar watch
- Adverb position: will probably + verb in positive sentences, but probably won't + verb in negatives: People will probably… / People probably won't…
- likely: X is likely to + verb or It's likely that + clause. Never X will likely to…
- could well / may well mean ‘there's a real chance’: Robots could well take over a lot of warehouse work. (No to after them.)
- I'd imagine / I'd expect / I suspect + clause are natural spoken hedges: I suspect most people will still prefer…
- Future continuous for situations in progress at a future time: In twenty years, many of us will be working from home at least part of the week.
- Future perfect for something completed before a future time: By 2045, most petrol cars will probably have been phased out.
The certainty scale
| How sure are you? | Useful language | Example |
|---|---|---|
Almost certain | is bound to… / will almost certainly… / there's no doubt that… | Rents in Dhaka are bound to keep rising if people keep moving to the capital. |
Probable | will probably… / is likely to… / I'd imagine… / I'd expect … to… | I'd expect most universities to offer far more courses online. |
Possible | could well… / may well… / there's a good chance that… | Driverless buses could well appear in some cities within a decade. |
Unlikely | probably won't… / is unlikely to… / I doubt that… / I'd be surprised if… (+ past simple) | I'd be surprised if printed books disappeared completely. |
Almost impossible | definitely won't… / I can't see … ever + verb / there's very little chance that… | I can't see robots ever replacing nurses entirely. |
2. Comparing past and present: then → now → why → so what
How has… changed? questions invite a whole cluster of structures: used to / would for the past, the present perfect for change, and comparatives for the size of the difference.
The answer shape
- Then: A generation ago, most families used to eat together every evening…
- Now: …whereas these days everyone's schedule is so different that a shared meal has become something of a weekend event.
- Why: Part of it is longer working hours and longer commutes, especially in a city like Dhaka.
- So what: I think something has been lost, because those meals were where a lot of family conversation happened.
Toolkit
| Job | Language |
|---|---|
| Past habits and states | used to + verb (People used to write letters); didn't use to; would + verb for repeated actions only (My grandmother would walk to the bazaar every morning) |
| Change up to now | has become, have got used to, there's been a shift from X to Y, X has largely replaced Y |
| Size of the difference | far / much / considerably / a lot + comparative; slightly / a bit + comparative; nowhere near as… as; twice as… as |
| Contrast | whereas, while, compared with a generation ago, back in my parents' day, these days |
| Linked change | the more…, the more… (The more connected we are online, the less we seem to talk face to face.) |
Grammar watch
- used to is only for the past. For present habits, use the present simple: ✗ Nowadays I use to take the metro. ✓ Nowadays I usually take the metro.
- would can't describe past states: ✗ Dhaka would be a smaller city. ✓ Dhaka used to be a much smaller city.
- be used to + -ing means ‘be accustomed to’, which is a different structure: People are used to paying by phone now.
- No double comparatives: ✗ more easier ✓ much easier.
- Nowadays is fine, but not at the start of every sentence. Vary it with these days, today, compared with twenty years ago.
Quite dramatically, I'd say. When my parents were young, shopping was a very local, personal thing. My mother would go to the same bazaar every week, she knew the shopkeepers by name, and people used to buy most things in small quantities, almost day to day. These days, in cities at least, it's far more impersonal. A lot of people order groceries through apps, and big supermarkets have largely replaced the neighbourhood market for middle-class families. I think the main driver has been convenience: with longer working hours and terrible traffic, spending an hour at a bazaar has become a luxury. The flip side is that something social has been lost. Those small shopkeepers used to give credit to regular customers and knew everyone's news, which you simply don't get from a delivery app.
- Then: used to / would‘My mother would go…’ (a repeated action) and ‘people used to buy…’ (a past habit). Both are correct because these are actions, not states.
- Now: comparative + present perfect‘far more impersonal’, ‘have largely replaced’, ‘has become a luxury’: a modified comparative and the present perfect to describe change up to now.
- Why‘the main driver has been convenience’ explains the change instead of only describing it.
- So what‘The flip side is that something social has been lost’ adds an evaluation, so the answer ends on a point rather than just stopping.
- Precise vocabulary‘impersonal’, ‘neighbourhood market’, ‘give credit to regular customers’ are specific and natural. You don't need rare words, just exact ones.
Check: predicting and comparing
7 questions- 1
Put these predictions in order from MOST certain to LEAST certain.
Drag the cards (or use the arrows) into the correct order.
- 1Cash is bound to become less common.
- 2Cash will probably become less common.
- 3Cash is unlikely to become less common.
- 4Cash might become less common.
- 5Cash could well become less common.
- 2
Older people in villages still depend on notes and coins, so I think cash disappear completely in the next ten years.
- 3
Find and correct the mistake:
In the future, people will can work from anywhere in the world.
- 4
Find and correct the mistake:
When I was a child, I was used to play cricket in the street every afternoon.
- 5
‘How has communication changed since your parents were young?’ Which sentence compares past and present most precisely?
- 6
Match each question to the most suitable opening.
Do you think people will still read printed newspapers in the future?How has shopping changed compared with your parents' generation?What are the advantages and disadvantages of online learning?What would happen if fuel prices doubled overnight? - 7
Choose TWO correct sentences.
Select 2.
Answer every question to check.
3. Evaluating: plus → minus → verdict
What are the advantages and disadvantages…? Is it a good thing that…? Which is more important…? These questions want judgement, not a list. The most common band 6 pattern is two or three plus points followed by ‘So it has advantages and disadvantages.’ That isn't a verdict. It just repeats the question.
The answer shape
- Plus: name the strongest advantage and develop it. The main advantage of online learning is flexibility: a student in a district town can take a course from a top university without moving to Dhaka.
- Minus: name the most important drawback and develop it. The flip side is that it demands a lot of self-discipline, and without a teacher in the room many students simply drift away.
- Verdict: weigh them up and commit, often with a condition. On balance, I'd say the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, but only for older, motivated learners.
You can also start with the verdict (Overall, I think it's a positive trend, although…) and then justify it. Both orders work. What matters is that you reach a verdict.
Toolkit
- Advantages: The main / biggest advantage is that… · One major benefit is… · On the plus side… · It's a huge help for…
- Drawbacks: One drawback is… · The downside is… · The flip side is… · The main concern is… · It comes at a cost:…
- Weighing up: the advantages outweigh the disadvantages · it's a trade-off between X and Y · it's a double-edged sword (once in the test, not in every answer)
- Verdict: On balance… · All things considered… · Weighing it all up… · Overall, I'd say…
- Which is more important? I'd put X ahead of Y, mainly because… · Both matter, but if I had to choose…
Grammar watch: the advantage of + noun/-ing (the advantage of living in a city); an advantage for + people (an advantage for working parents); outweigh takes a direct object: ✗ the benefits outweigh than the costs ✓ the benefits outweigh the costs.
4. Hypotheticals: immediate effect → knock-on effect → catch
What would happen if…? Should the government…? Imagine that… Any question about an unreal or unlikely situation needs unreal grammar: the second conditional, and often the slightly more formal if… were to….
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| If + past simple, would + verb | If public transport were free, far more people would leave their cars at home. |
| If + were to + verb, would / could / might + verb | If governments were to ban private cars from city centres, I suspect traffic would ease almost immediately. |
| Supposing + past simple | Supposing every office allowed home working, what would happen to city-centre cafés? |
| If it were up to me, I'd… | If it were up to me, I'd spend the money on buses rather than flyovers. |
| Mixed conditional (past cause, present result) | If the metro hadn't been built, my journey to university would still take well over an hour. |
| would / could / might without if | A ban like that could well hurt small businesses. |
The answer shape
- Immediate effect: If fuel prices doubled, the first thing we'd see is a jump in bus and CNG fares.
- Knock-on effect: That would push up food prices too, because almost everything is transported by road.
- The catch: The people hit hardest would be those on low incomes, so the government would probably have to offer some kind of subsidy.
The knock-on step is what turns a one-line answer into a band 8 chain of reasoning: …which would in turn mean…
Grammar watch: never use will in the if-clause. ✗ If the government will make transport free… ✓ If the government made / were to make transport free… With I / he / she / it, were is the safest choice in the exam: If I were the mayor…
Hedging: precise, not vague
Part 3 asks you to generalise about millions of people: Are young people less polite than in the past? An unhedged answer (‘Yes, all young people are rude now’) is easy to challenge and sounds naive. Hedging means qualifying a claim so that it is exactly as strong as your evidence. It is a mark of educated speech and of band 7+ answers.
| Hedging tool | Example |
|---|---|
| Quantity and frequency | many / most / a lot of young people · in many cases · more often than not |
| Tendency | Young people tend to be more direct than older generations. |
| Degree | That's true to some extent / up to a point. |
| Opinion softeners | I'd say… · It seems to me that… · I suspect… · I'd argue that… |
| Adverbs | arguably, probably, generally, largely, in some ways |
| Not always | That isn't necessarily the case. · It depends a lot on… |
How much is enough? One hedge per claim. Compare:
- Under-hedged: Young people are rude. They don't respect anyone.
- Over-hedged: Maybe, I think, possibly some young people are perhaps a little bit less polite, maybe.
- Well hedged: I'd say young people tend to be more informal rather than less polite. They're more direct with adults than my parents' generation were, but that isn't necessarily a lack of respect.
The last answer also reframes the question (more informal rather than less polite). Examiners notice that kind of move because it shows you are thinking, not reciting.
Band 6 vs band 8: ‘Do you think people will still use cash in twenty years' time?’
Band 6
I think in the future cash will be finished, because nowadays everybody uses bKash and Nagad. It is very easy and fast. In my area even rickshaw pullers take bKash. So I think maybe in twenty years nobody will use cash. But maybe some old people will still use cash because they don't know the technology very well. So cash will be less, but it will not finish completely.
Band 8
I'd imagine it'll be far less common, but I doubt it'll disappear completely. Mobile banking has spread incredibly fast in Bangladesh. Even a lot of tea stalls and rickshaw pullers in Dhaka accept bKash now, which would have been unthinkable fifteen years ago. So in cities, cash could well become something people only carry for emergencies.
The catch is that a cashless system depends on everyone having a phone, a stable connection and some trust in digital money, and that isn't the case for many older people in rural areas. If the government were to push too hard, it could end up excluding exactly the people who are already struggling.
So on balance, I'd say we're heading towards a mostly cashless society, but notes and coins are likely to survive for the foreseeable future as a kind of safety net.
The band 6 answer is relevant and easy to follow, but it relies on ‘will’ and ‘maybe’, repeats ‘cash’ and ‘use’, and contains errors (‘cash will be finished’, ‘it will not finish’, ‘cash will be less’). Its prediction also swings from ‘nobody will use cash’ to ‘cash will be less’ without any control. The band 8 answer opens with a calibrated prediction (‘far less common… I doubt it'll disappear’), gives a reason with a past–present contrast (‘would have been unthinkable fifteen years ago’), adds a caveat using a hypothetical (‘If the government were to push too hard…’) and closes with a verdict (‘on balance… likely to survive for the foreseeable future’). It draws on all four toolkits in a single answer, and that is what ‘flexible’ grammar sounds like.
Listen: a band 8 answer to a hypothetical question
Speaking Part 3 practice
5 questions · up to 90s eachHow has transport in your country changed over the last twenty years?
Listen to the question, then record your answer.
Tips for a band 7+ answer
- • Before you speak, identify the family: Q1 past vs present, Q2 future, Q3 evaluation, Q4 hypothetical, Q5 evaluation (which is more important?).
- • Open in the matching grammar: ‘Twenty years ago…’, ‘I'd imagine…’, ‘The biggest plus is…’, ‘I suspect the first thing we'd see…’.
- • Q2: choose a point on the certainty scale and add a caveat (‘but that depends on…’).
- • Q3 and Q5: finish with a verdict (‘On balance…’, ‘I'd put X ahead of Y…’). A list of pros and cons is not enough.
- • Q4: never use ‘will’ after ‘if’. Give an immediate effect, a knock-on effect and a catch.
- • Aim for 30–60 seconds per answer and use honest approximations, not invented statistics.
Speaking Part 3 practice
4 questions · up to 90s eachHow has the way families spend time together changed compared with a generation ago?
Listen to the question, then record your answer.
Tips for a band 7+ answer
- • Q1: use Then → Now → Why → So what, with ‘would’ or ‘used to’ for the past and ‘has become’ for the change.
- • Q2 and Q4: avoid a plain yes or no. Say how sure you are and for whom (‘In certain sectors, almost certainly… but I doubt…’).
- • Q3: the question is hypothetical, so answer with ‘If phones were banned…, I suspect…’ and include a knock-on effect.
- • Hedge once per claim (‘tend to’, ‘to some extent’, ‘isn't necessarily’). Don't stack ‘maybe… possibly… perhaps’.
- • After recording, check your transcript for ‘will can’, ‘more + -er’ and ‘will’ after ‘if’.
Final check: speculating, comparing and evaluating
11 questions- 1
Which is the best-hedged answer to ‘Are young people today less hard-working than in the past?’
- 2
If governments to ban plastic bags completely, shops would have to find alternatives very quickly.
- 3
Find and correct the mistake:
If the government will make buses free, more people will leave their cars at home.
- 4
Find and correct the mistake:
Nowadays, children are more healthier than they used to be.
- 5
Compared a generation ago, families in Bangladesh are much smaller.
- 6
‘When my grandfather was young, he ___ a farmer.’ Choose the correct form.
- 7
Match each function to a natural phrase.
SpeculatingComparing with the pastIntroducing a drawbackGiving a final verdictIntroducing a hypothetical - 8
Put this answer to ‘Is it a good thing that more people shop online?’ into Plus → Minus → Verdict order.
Drag the cards (or use the arrows) into the correct order.
- 1The downside is that traditional markets and small shops are losing customers.
- 2On balance, I'd say it's a positive trend, as long as local shops find ways to adapt.
- 3The main advantage is convenience: you can order almost anything without fighting through traffic.
- 4It also gives small producers, like home bakers, access to customers across the country.
- 9
Which answer to ‘What would happen if everyone worked from home?’ develops a knock-on effect?
- 10
Choose TWO grammatically correct sentences.
Select 2.
- 11
In Part 3 of the Speaking test, candidates are asked to express and justify opinions and to analyse, discuss and speculate about issues. Examiners assess the language a candidate uses, not whether the candidate's opinions or predictions are correct.
A candidate whose prediction about the future turns out to be wrong will receive a lower score.
Answer every question to check.
Key takeaways
Language for predicting and evaluating
Saved as flashcards with a free accountfor the foreseeable future
phrase/fə ðə fɔːˈsiːəbl ˈfjuːtʃə(r)/
for as long as anyone can predict; for quite a long time from now
যতদূর ভবিষ্যৎ দেখা যায়, নিকট ভবিষ্যতে
Cash is likely to survive for the foreseeable future, especially in rural areas.
be bound to
phrase/bi ˈbaʊnd tə/
to be almost certain to happen or do something
নিশ্চিতভাবে ঘটবেই
If more people move to the capital, rents are bound to rise.
in the long run
phrase/ɪn ðə ˈlɒŋ rʌn/
over a long period of time; eventually, rather than immediately
দীর্ঘমেয়াদে
Investing in public transport is cheaper in the long run than building more flyovers.
phase out
phrasal verb/ˌfeɪz ˈaʊt/
to stop using or providing something gradually, in stages
ধাপে ধাপে বন্ধ করা
Many countries plan to phase out petrol cars over the next twenty years.
inevitable
adjective/ɪnˈevɪtəbl/
certain to happen and impossible to avoid
অনিবার্য, অবশ্যম্ভাবী
Some job losses are inevitable as factories become more automated.
drawback
noun/ˈdrɔːbæk/
a disadvantage or problem that makes something less attractive
অসুবিধা, ত্রুটি
The main drawback of online courses is the lack of contact with teachers.
outweigh
verb/ˌaʊtˈweɪ/
to be greater or more important than something else
ছাপিয়ে যাওয়া, বেশি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ হওয়া
On balance, I think the benefits of mobile banking far outweigh the risks.
trade-off
noun/ˈtreɪd ɒf/
a situation where you accept a disadvantage in order to get an advantage
একটা সুবিধা পেতে অন্যটা ছাড়া; আপস
Living in the city centre is a trade-off between convenience and space.
on balance
phrase/ɒn ˈbæləns/
after considering all the facts and arguments on both sides
সবদিক বিবেচনা করে
On balance, I'd say working from home suits most office workers.
knock-on effect
noun/ˈnɒk ɒn ɪˌfekt/
an indirect result of an action or event, which then causes further changes
পরোক্ষ প্রভাব, ধারাবাহিক প্রতিক্রিয়া
Higher fuel prices would have a knock-on effect on the cost of food.
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