IELTS Speaking Part 1 daily routine questions: answers, tenses and phrases
Answer IELTS Part 1 daily routine questions naturally with sample answers, time expressions, and the tenses examiners listen for.
By English Grader study guides · AI-assisted educational content · Official sources linked below
The short answer
Routine questions test present simple, frequency adverbs, and comparisons with the past—show all three in short answers.
Common questions
Routine questions look easy, which is why many candidates give one-word answers.
- What is your daily routine like?
- Do you prefer mornings or evenings?
- Has your routine changed since you were a child?
- What would you like to change about your routine?
Related guide: Prepare work and study questions
Tenses and time phrases
Mix tenses naturally to show range.
- Present simple + frequency: I usually…, I rarely…
- Past habit: I used to…, back then I would…
- Change: these days, recently, nowadays
- Future wish: I'd like to start…
'Has your routine changed?'
Definitely. When I was at school I used to get up at six, but these days I work from home, so I tend to start later and finish later. I'd actually like to get back into an earlier routine.
Practise
Record two routine answers and check whether you used at least two different tenses.
Record an answer →Put this into practice
Record answers to Part 1 routine questions and check your grammar and fluency feedback.
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Official sources and further reading
Practice examples and study routines are illustrative advice, not official band-scored answers or predictions of exam questions.