adjectives of speculation

By the way / incidentally

• …and then we went for lunch. Oh…by the way, your mother called; sorry, I forgot to tell you.

When to use this adverb: this allows you to introduce something you suddenly thought of or forgot.

Actually / in fact / as a matter of fact

• What do you mean I’m not on time? As a matter of fact I have arrived one hour ago.

When to use this adverb: used to either correct a fact, change your mind or to introduce extra information.

In any case / Anyway

• Anyway…let’s change the subject.

In any case, I don’t wanna talk about it so let’s change the subject.

Meaning: this makes clear that what you just said wasn’t as important as one might think.

At least

• He may have got the house in the divorce settlement but at least you got the business.

Meaning in advanced English: to communicate the positive side of something.

As I was saying

• As I was saying, her husband has been fired and he didn't have a job right now.

Meaning in advanced English: used to return back to a topic that you have s

On the whole

• On the whole olive oil is better for you but you shouldn’t forget that it’s still a form of fat.

When to use this adverb: to express generality or a concluding point that sums up your argument.

All in all

• All in all he’s a good student but he needs to focus more.

Meaning in advanced English: a synonym of ‘at the end of the day’ and ‘all things considered’.

After all

• You should pay the bill…after all, it was you who wanted oysters.

Meaning of this adverbial expression: reminds the listener of some key point they should not forget in forming their opinion.

Besides

• I don’t want to move to Paris, and besides… we can’t afford the rent.

Meaning in advanced English: emphasizes a key point which may have been overlooked.

Basically

• Basically, she isn't going to travel with us. She didn't pay the rent of the hotel.

When to use this adverb: to emphasise a key point with all supplementary or distracting information stripped away.

Obviously

• Obviously, now I've passed the exam so I'm very excited to start on the university.

Meaning of this adverbial expression: to communicate the logical necessity or clarity of something.

I mean

• You’re always criticizing me. I mean…look how many times you told me I wasn’t good enough to be on the team.

Meaning in advanced English: to give examples or further explanation.

In other words

• She is my mother's sister, in other words, my aunt.

When to use this adverb: for clarification or further explanation.

Otherwise

• Change your settings on Whatsapp otherwise she’ll know that you received the message.

Meaning of this adverbial expression: indicates what the consequences will be if you don’t do something.

As far as …. Is concerned / As regards / Regarding

• The rules are clear: as far as mobiles are concerned, we have a zero tolerance policy.

Meaning: to indicate what you are going to talk about or to change the subject slightly.

That is to say

• In the American standard, this component is normally negative; that istosay, it(usually) reduces economic growth.

When to use this adverb: primarily for the purposes of clarification.

On the one hand… on the other hand

• Tom can't swim at all. On the other hand, he is a good baseball player.

Meaning of this adverbial expression: to juxtapose or contrast two different sets of facts or points of view.

Speaking of / Talking of

• Talking of your ex… I saw her in the supermarket with a handsome guy the other day.

Meaning of this adverbial expression: a tool for changing conversation direction while still maintaining a link to what was said before.