GESE Grade 5 Special occasions: questions and sample answers

What the examiner wants at Grade 5

Grade 5 is CEFR B1 and has two phases of up to 5 minutes each: a talk on a topic you prepare, and a conversation on two subject areas that the examiner chooses from a list of six. This page is about the conversation phase. You must be ready for all six subjects, because you will not know which two you get.

The examiner wants reasons ("because"), preferences ("I prefer", "I'd rather"), the future with "will", the present perfect ("I have never...", "I have lived here for..."), and amounts ("a lot of", "not many"). You also have to ask the examiner at least one question about the subject.

These are the six conversation subjects in Trinity's Grade 5 specification. Source: Trinity specifications.

10 example questions on special occasions

An examiner could ask questions like these. They are our own practice questions. Answer each one out loud.

1. How do you usually celebrate your birthday?
2. What was the best birthday you have ever had?
3. Have you been to a wedding in the UK?
4. What do people give as presents in your country?
5. How many people come to a wedding in your family?
6. What do you prefer: a big party or a quiet dinner?
7. What special occasion will you have next year?
8. Who do you spend special occasions with?
9. How long have you lived in the UK?
10. What do people wear at a special occasion?

3 short sample answers

These answers are written at the level of the grade. Do not learn them by heart. Use them to see the size and shape of a good answer, then say your own.

How do you usually celebrate your birthday?
“I usually have dinner with my family. My mother makes a cake, and my friends call me. I'd rather have a quiet day than a big party.”

What was the best birthday you have ever had?
“My thirtieth was the best. My sister planned a surprise, and about twenty people came. I have never forgotten it.”

Have you been to a wedding in the UK?
“Yes, I went to my cousin's wedding last June. It was in a hall, and there was a lot of food. We danced for hours.”

Useful words

• anniversary
• invite
• guest
• present
• card
• candle
• wedding
• ceremony
• surprise
• party
• congratulations
• a lot of

Say each word aloud three times. Then use two or three of them in one sentence about your own life.

Common mistakes

• Saying "I am here since two years". Say "I have been here for two years".
• Leaving out "the" in "the best day" or "the first time".
• Listing items. Give a reason or a feeling too.

Ask the examiner a question

Trinity says you must ask the examiner at least one question at Grade 5. Ask it when the talk feels easy and listen to the answer. A question for this subject: “What do you do on your birthday?”

Practise this subject

Reading is not enough. Say your answers out loud, then listen to yourself.

• Practise the Grade 5 conversation with the AI examiner. It asks questions out loud and you answer out loud.
• Trinity GESE Grade 5 (B1): test format
• All Grade 5 subjects
• All six Grade 5 conversation subjects
• Grade 5 topic form examples
• Free level check (no sign-up)

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