Describe a friend you know you can rely on.
The classic person card in its most answerable form. Because the third bullet asks for an occasion, this card gives you a story inside a description — which is why it usually produces a candidate's best two minutes.
The task card
Describe a friend you know you can rely on.
You should say:
- who the person is
- how you met
- an occasion when they helped you
and explain why you trust them.
How long you have
- 1 minute
Preparation
The examiner hands you the card, paper and a pencil. Make notes — a few words per cue point, never sentences.
- 1–2 minutes
Your long turn
Speak until the examiner stops you at two minutes. Finishing early is the most common self-inflicted problem in Part 2.
- 1–2 questions
Rounding off
The examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions, then moves straight into the Part 3 discussion on the same theme.
Part 2 takes three to four minutes in total. The whole Speaking test runs 11 to 14 minutes across three parts, and Part 3 that follows lasts four to five minutes.
How to approach this card
Answer the second bullet with a scene, not a fact. 'We met at university' is four words and a dead end; 'we were put in the same halls and did not speak for six weeks because I thought he was arrogant' is a beginning. How you met is one of the easiest places in the whole test to sound natural.
Build the answer around the third bullet. One occasion, told properly, is worth more than five qualities listed. Give it a situation, a difficulty, and what the person actually did — not what they said, what they did. Actions characterise; adjectives do not.
The final bullet asks why you trust them, and the strong answer identifies a pattern rather than repeating the story. 'Because he has never once told me what I wanted to hear' is a reason. 'Because he is a very good friend' is a restatement. Find the pattern during the prep minute; it is hard to find while speaking.
Ideas you can actually use
Three angles on this card. Pick the one closest to something real in your own life — invented material is what makes candidates hesitate at ninety seconds.
Make 'how we met' a scene
- A bad first impression that was later corrected — the strongest possible opening
- Forced proximity: assigned partners, neighbouring desks, the same bus
- A gap of years, and how the friendship survived it
One occasion, told properly
- What they did, not what they said — turned up, drove, paid, stayed, waited
- How they knew something was wrong when you had not told them
- The unglamorous practical help that nobody offers: forms, lifts, food, silence
Why you trust them — find the pattern
- They have never told you what you wanted to hear
- They have been willing to be unpopular with you, for your sake
- Include a time you fell out, which paradoxically proves the point
What your one minute of notes should look like
Not sentences — a few words per cue point. This is the level of detail sixty seconds actually buys you, and it is enough to speak from for two minutes.
- WHO — Daniyal, 11 yrs, least dramatic person I know
- MET — lab partners, I resented him for 2 months; his mother was ill, never said
- OCCASION — lost my job, told nobody; he worked it out, turned up with food
- TRUST — never told me what I wanted to hear; we didn't speak for a fortnight once. He was right.
Model answer
Speak your own answer first. Examiners are trained to spot memorised speeches and mark them down — use this to study structure, pacing and naturalness, never to recite.
Show the model answer
The friend I'd talk about is Daniyal, who I've known for about eleven years now, and who I'd describe as the least dramatic person I've ever met — which is exactly why he's the one I call. We met in the worst possible way. We were assigned as lab partners in our second year and I was, frankly, doing most of the work, and I resented him quite openly for about two months. What I didn't know was that his mother was ill and he was travelling three hours home every weekend. He never mentioned it. I found out from somebody else, and I've never been more embarrassed about a judgement in my life. The occasion I always come back to was four years ago, when I lost my job with no notice. I didn't tell anyone for two days. Daniyal worked it out from something completely trivial — I had cancelled a lunch — and he didn't phone and ask if I was all right, which I'd have lied about. He just turned up at my flat on a Tuesday evening with food, sat down, and talked about absolutely nothing for two hours until I brought it up myself. Then he helped me rewrite my CV until about one in the morning. Why do I trust him? Not because of that evening, really. It's that in eleven years he's never once told me what I wanted to hear. When I was about to take a job that was obviously wrong for me, he said so, plainly, and we didn't speak for a fortnight. He was right. Anyone can be supportive. Being willing to be unpopular with me, for my sake, is much rarer, and that's the thing I actually rely on.
Why this works: The 'how we met' section is a scene with a reversal in it, not a fact — which immediately makes the answer specific. The occasion is narrated with real behaviour ('turned up', 'talked about nothing', 'rewrote my CV') rather than adjectives. Crucially, the final bullet identifies a pattern that is different from the story just told, and even offers a counterexample where the friendship was strained, which is far more convincing than uniform praise.
Useful vocabulary for this topic
- we hit it off straight away
Idiom for getting on well immediately.
- he is the first person I would call
Shows reliability through behaviour rather than adjectives.
- she does not sugar-coat things
For someone honest even when it is uncomfortable.
- we go back years
Compact way to establish a long friendship.
- he turned up without being asked
The kind of concrete detail that proves reliability.
- we can pick up where we left off
For a friendship unaffected by long gaps.
- she has never let me down
Precise phrasal verb; the natural collocation for reliability.
The same phrases in a full sentence
A phrase list is only useful if you know how the words sit around it. Say each of these aloud once before you attempt the card.
- he is the first person I would call
- “If something went badly wrong tomorrow, he is the first person I would call.”
- she does not sugar-coat things
- “She does not sugar-coat things, which is exactly why I ask her rather than anyone else.”
- he has never let me down
- “In eleven years he has never once let me down, and I cannot say that about many people.”
- we can pick up where we left off
- “We can go six months without speaking and pick up exactly where we left off.”
Part 3 discussion
After your long turn the examiner moves into a four to five minute discussion on the same theme, working from two related discussion topics with about three questions each. The first stays close to your own experience; the second widens out. Answer with reasons and examples, not one-line replies.
Friendship
Example questions
- 1What qualities do people usually look for in a friend?
- 2How important is it for children to have a lot of friends?
- 3Do friendships made in childhood last longer than later ones?
Keeping in touch
Example questions
- 1How has technology changed the way people stay in contact?
- 2Can you suggest why some people find it harder to make friends as adults?
- 3Do you agree that a genuine friendship can be formed entirely online?
More on how this family of cards is discussed: People and relationships.