Expressions of Time

You will almost certainly need to use expressions of time in all parts of the IELTS Speaking Test.  If you can use expressions of time which are a little more advanced, you will get higher marks.  Here are some useful phrases for you:

  • late August/early August
  • at the beginning/end of the week
  • mid-week
  • first thing (in the morning before anything else)
  • last thing (at night before you go to bed)
  • a week Tuesday (one week from next Tuesday)
  • a fortnight (two weeks)
  • at that time/in those days (referring to a long time ago)
  • these days/nowadays
  • the other day (on a day in the recent past)
  • once in a while (very occasionally)
  • once (on a day a long time ago)
  • the day before yesterday
  • the day after tomorrow 

Let's look at three of them more closely.

At that time/in those days refers to a period of time a long time ago (a decade, a century etc.).  It is more common to use it to talk about life in general but can be used for personal things too. For example, "In those days, very few people had access to electricity." or "In those days, we didn't have much money."

Once refers to a specific occasion and refers to something you yourself did a long time ago. For example, "Once, I was on the beach when this terrible thing happened."

The other day also refers to something that happened to you personally but is used for more recent times, like last week or two weeks ago.  For example, "The other day, I bumped into John - we went for a coffee together."

TASK

Answer the following questions using the expressions from above.  Remember to record yourself. 

  1. What did you do the day before yesterday?
  2. What are you planning to do the day after tomorrow/a week today?
  3. Describe your company/city/country 20 years ago. (In those days)
  4. Describe your company/city/country now. (These days)
  5. Talk about an incident that happened to you recently. (The other day)
  6. Talk about an incident that happened to you a long time ago.  (Once)
  7. What do you normally do first thing when you wake up?
  8. What do you do last thing at night?
  9. What's the best place to go for a fortnight's holiday?
  10. What do you only do once in a while?

 

There are more time expressions in Trends.  You might want to use those expressions in other parts of the speaking test too.