How to Say Something Is Important or Unimportant

1. Why This Skill Matters

Importance comes up constantly in a Speaking test — is something important to you personally, is it important for society, would you prioritise X over Y? Examiners are listening for accuracy (grammar rules many learners break without noticing), range (not saying "very important" every single time), and depth (explaining why, not just asserting that).

2. How IELTS Tests "Importance" Across All Three Parts

• Part 1: Is it important to be on time? Do you think the internet is important? Quick personal answers — but even here, a degree word and a reason lift the score.
• Part 2: You may need to describe something important to you — a possession, a skill, a person, a decision. You need to sustain the language without repetition.
• Part 3: Discussion moves to society and priorities — Should governments prioritise the economy over the environment? Why do some issues become more important over time? You need hedging, comparison, and academic vocabulary.

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3. The Core Toolkit: Structures for Importance and Unimportance

3.1. The Basic Degree Words

Importance isn't one flat word — it's a scale, and degree words carry the real information:

Degree	Words
Moderate	fairly important, quite important, important to a point, to some extent... important
High	very important, considerably important, especially important, particularly important
Very high	incredibly important, exceedingly important, terribly important
None	not important at all, completely unimportant

"Terribly important" is a genuine, natural collocation — "terribly" is used colloquially as an intensifier here despite its negative root.

3.2. Bounding Your Claim (Hedging)

Real opinions are rarely absolute. Two very useful hedged patterns:

• to some extent... important — To some extent, fashion is important.
• important to a point, but... — Art is important to a point, but it's not as vital as food and shelter.

3.3. Saying Something Is Unimportant

• not important at all — a plain, emphatic denial of value: Following fashion is not important at all.
• completely unimportant — Having a camera on a mobile phone is completely unimportant.

Grammar warning — the "completely" rule: completely can only modify a word with a negative meaning in English (completely unimportant, completely ridiculous, completely mad). ❌ Art is completely important. ❌ This is absolutely important. ✅ Art is completely unimportant. If you want maximum intensity on the positive side, reach for incredibly, exceedingly, or terribly instead.

3.4. The Importance Intensity Scale

1. fairly / quite important — a cautious, moderate assessment
2. important to a point, but... / to some extent... important — bounded, partial importance
3. very important — the plain, strong baseline
4. considerably important — noticeably, measurably important
5. especially / particularly important — important above all else, for a specific group or reason — implies comparison
6. incredibly important — extremely important, conveys strong conviction
7. exceedingly / terribly important — the strongest, most emphatic register
8. not important at all / completely unimportant — the zero point

Rotating through this scale — instead of repeating "very important" — is exactly the kind of range examiners reward.

3.5. Explaining Why Something Matters

A degree word alone is still an assertion. Naming the benefit turns it into a real point:

• X is important for / excellent for / good for + verb-ing — Gardening is important for helping people relax. (Strength order: excellent for > important for > good for.)
• X is a good way to / an excellent way to + verb — Swimming is an excellent way to release energy.
• X helps us / can help us + (to) + verb — Reading can help us to increase our vocabulary. ("To" is optional in natural speech.)
• activity + promotes + noun — Giving gifts on special occasions promotes good feeling among friends and family.

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4. How These Words and Structures Relate to Each Other

This is the "relationships" map, drawn directly from how the underlying data connects Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3:

• fairly / considerably / especially / particularly / incredibly important — these look like Part 3 discussion phrases, but they're the same degree words that anchor the plain Part 1 scale in §3.4 — one vocabulary set, reused at rising formality.
• fairly important ↔ quite important — near_synonym: interchangeable, moderate-degree partners.
• important for X ↔ not important at all / completely unimportant — opposite_structure: the same claim framed as presence vs. total absence of value.
• X is more important than Y ↔ X is equally as important as Y — complementary_rule: same comparative grammar, opposite conclusions — pick the one that matches your real opinion.
• beneficial ↔ enriching ↔ educational ↔ expressive — a near_synonym cluster of reasons something is valuable: beneficial = good for someone's growth; enriching = gives a positive, often cultural, experience; educational = teaches something useful; expressive = lets you show feelings or ideas.
• pretentious ↔ tedious ↔ frivolous ↔ wasteful ↔ pathetic ↔ unnecessary — the matching near_synonym cluster on the negative side, for saying something isn't worth the time or money.
• "terribly important" ↔ "terribly" elsewhere — a reminder that some intensifiers (terribly, incredibly) carry a negative root but a positive, purely intensifying function here — don't let the root word mislead you.
• beneficial / educational / unnecessary each recur across several parts of the test (personal opinion, description, discussion) under different labels — the same word does real work in a short Part 1 answer and in a Part 3 argument; you don't need a separate vocabulary for each Part, just a rising register.

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5. Comparing Importance and Priority

Picking a winner without comparing is a common weak pattern. Use a direct comparison phrase instead:

• X is more important than Y (because...) — Travelling is more important than saving money, because the experiences stay with you for life.
• X should take precedence over Y — Spending money improving our hospitals should take precedence over renovating historic buildings.
• X is of greater importance than Y — I'd say family is undoubtedly of greater importance than friends.
• X should have / has a higher priority than Y — I believe science should have a higher priority than art in schools.
• X is in need of more attention than Y — Slowing down global warming is certainly in need of more attention than saving particular species.
• X is equally as important as Y — Developing the economy is equally as important as protecting the environment.
• X is the most important... / the highest priority... — the superlative, for naming an outright winner.
• Before doing X, we should do Y — sequences priority directly: Before spending more on education, we should raise rural living standards.

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6. Part 1 in Practice: Short Answers Across 5 Topics

Topic — Sport & Exercise

Weak: Yes, it's important. Upgraded: Yes, it's terribly important — playing sports is important for keeping children active, and it also teaches them how to work as part of a team.

Topic — Patience & Politeness

Weak: Yes, I think it's important. Upgraded: It's important to a point, but for me it mostly comes down to respect — being polite helps you get along with people, especially strangers.

Topic — Technology & Communication

Weak: Yes, the internet is important. Upgraded: The internet's incredibly important to me, particularly for staying in touch with friends and finding information quickly.

Topic — Work & Career

Weak: I think salary is more important. Upgraded: For me, salary should take precedence over job satisfaction, at least early on, because you need financial security before you can afford to think about whether you enjoy the work.

Topic — History

Weak: I think history is very important. Upgraded: I'd say history is incredibly important, mainly because it helps us understand why things in the present are the way they are.

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7. Part 2 in Practice: A Full Model Monologue

Cue card: Describe a possession that is important to you. You should say what it is, how long you've had it, why you got it, and explain why it's so important to you.

I'd like to talk about an old leather notebook my grandfather gave me before he passed away, which I've had for about six years now. He gave it to me because I'd always admired the one he used for his own notes, and he wanted me to have something practical rather than just sentimental.

It's fairly important to me for the obvious reason — it reminds me of him — but it's also become genuinely useful in its own right, which I didn't expect. I use it every day to write down ideas, and I have to say it's an excellent way to slow down and actually think, rather than just typing something into my phone. Writing by hand is important for helping me remember things properly; there's actually research suggesting it works better for memory than typing does.

If I'm honest, it's considerably more important to me than most of the other things I own, precisely because it isn't replaceable — losing my phone would be inconvenient, but losing this notebook would genuinely upset me. I wouldn't say every possession needs to have this kind of meaning, but having at least one object like this is, I think, incredibly important for feeling connected to your own history. It's not the be-all and end-all of my day, but it's definitely one of the things I'd grab first in an emergency.

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8. Part 3 in Practice: Discussing Importance at a Higher Level

Q: Do you think physical education should have the same priority as academic subjects in schools?

That's a tough question. I have to say that, on balance, I don't think physical education should have a higher priority than the core academic subjects, although it's undoubtedly of considerable value. Physical education is beneficial for teaching teamwork and keeping children active, and that shouldn't be dismissed. But academic subjects should arguably take precedence, since qualifications remain a significant factor in future job prospects. Having said that, I do think physical education deserves considerably more attention than it currently gets in a lot of school systems — it's not an either/or situation.

Q: Why do you think some issues become more important to society over time?

I think it largely comes down to context and changing priorities rather than the issue itself changing. A factor like climate change, for instance, was seen as a fairly niche, specialist concern a few decades ago; today it's regarded as one of the most significant challenges we face. Ultimately, an issue tends to rise in perceived importance once its consequences become impossible to ignore, or once enough people are directly affected to make it a political priority rather than just an academic one. So it's less that the issue itself has changed, and more that public perspective has caught up with it.

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9. Academic Words (AWL) for Talking About Importance

Word	Definition	Example
significant (adj)	important enough to be noticed or to matter	Qualifications remain a significant factor in job prospects.
priority (n)	something treated as more important than other things	Healthcare should be a top priority for any government.
crucial (adj)	absolutely necessary; extremely important	Sleep is crucial for concentration and memory.
fundamental (adj)	forming a necessary base or core part	Trust is fundamental to any relationship.
considerable (adj)	fairly large in amount, extent, or degree	This issue has considerable importance for young people.
factor (n)	one of several things that influences a result	Cost is a major factor in the decision.
impact (n)	a powerful effect on someone or something	Losing a job can have a serious impact on mental health.
ensure (v)	to make certain that something happens	Good planning helps ensure a project succeeds.
ultimately (adv)	in the end; finally, after everything is considered	Ultimately, health matters more than wealth.
perspective (n)	a particular way of viewing or judging something	From a global perspective, this is a minor issue.
context (n)	the circumstances that shape how important something is	Its importance really depends on context.
sufficient (adj)	enough for a particular purpose	A basic income isn't always sufficient to live comfortably.

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10. Idioms for Importance and Unimportance

• a big deal — something important or significant: Losing that contract was a big deal for the company.
• make or break — decisively important to success or failure: This interview could make or break his career.
• the be-all and end-all — the single most important thing (often used negatively): Money isn't the be-all and end-all.
• neither here nor there — unimportant, irrelevant to the matter at hand: What he thinks is neither here nor there — it's not his decision.
• a drop in the ocean — a very small, insignificant amount compared to what's needed: That donation is a drop in the ocean compared to what's actually required.
• carry weight — to be influential or important: His opinion carries a lot of weight in this office.
• of little/no consequence — unimportant, without real effect: The delay was of little consequence in the end.

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11. Native-Speaker Ways of Saying It

• it's a big deal / it's no big deal — informal ways to mark something as important or, conversely, trivial: Don't worry, it's really no big deal.
• it makes all the difference — something has a major positive effect: Having a good manager makes all the difference.
• it makes no difference / it doesn't matter — casual ways to dismiss importance: Honestly, it makes no difference to me which one we choose.
• at the end of the day — introduces what ultimately matters most, after everything else is considered: At the end of the day, your health matters more than your job.
• means a lot to me / means nothing to me — personal importance (or its absence): This award means a lot to me.
• it's not the end of the world — reassures that something isn't as important or serious as it seems: If we miss the flight, it's not the end of the world.
• couldn't care less (informal) — total lack of importance to the speaker: Honestly, I couldn't care less what people think.

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12. Common Mistakes at a Glance

❌ Mistake	✅ Correction
It's completely important.	It's incredibly/exceedingly important. / It's completely unimportant.
I think education is important. I think health is important. I think family is important.	Education matters, but I'd say health should take precedence over almost everything else.
Sport is important keeping fit.	Sport is important for keeping fit.
It's absolutely important.	It's incredibly important. / It's absolutely essential.
X is more important than Y. Y is more important than X. (contradicting yourself)	Pick one side and hedge it: X is generally more important than Y, although Y matters to some extent too.
I very think it's important.	I really think it's important.

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13. Exercises

A. Fill in the gap with the correct word from the box. (fairly / considerably / precedence / extent / unimportant / helps)

1. Learning to swim is ___ important for every child.
2. To some ___, fashion is important, but it's not essential.
3. Salary should take ___ over job satisfaction, at least at first.
4. Having a camera on a phone is completely ___.
5. Reading ___ us to increase our vocabulary.
6. Art is ___ important, but there are more pressing issues.

B. Put these degree words in order from weakest to strongest. terribly important — fairly important — very important — incredibly important — considerably important

C. Correct the mistake in each sentence.

1. This is absolutely important to me.
2. Exercise is important keeping fit.
3. I think family is important. I think health is important. I think work is important.
4. Art is completely important in my opinion.

D. Match the idiom to its meaning.

1. a drop in the ocean   a) unimportant, irrelevant
2. neither here nor there   b) a tiny, insignificant amount
3. carry weight   c) to be influential

E. Choose the correct pattern.

1. Gardening is important ___ helping people relax. (for / to / of)
2. This decision could make ___ break the whole project. (and / or / but)
3. Family is undoubtedly ___ greater importance than money. (of / for / with)

F. Part 3 discussion practice. Answer each question aloud in 3–4 sentences, using at least one AWL word from §9 and one comparison phrase from §5.

1. Should the environment take priority over economic growth?
2. Why might something important to one generation seem unimportant to the next?
3. Is it more important to be good at your job or to enjoy it?

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14. Answer Key

A. 1. fairly 2. extent 3. precedence 4. unimportant 5. helps 6. considerably B. fairly important → very important → considerably important → incredibly important → terribly important (note: "fairly" and "very" are close together; "terribly," "incredibly," and "considerably" can shift order slightly depending on context — the key point is they all sit above the moderate tier — see §3.4) C. 1. This is incredibly important to me. 2. Exercise is important for keeping fit. 3. Family matters to me, but I'd say health takes precedence over almost everything else. 4. Art is incredibly important, in my opinion. / Art is completely unimportant, in my opinion. D. 1–b, 2–a, 3–c E. 1. for 2. or 3. of F. Open answers — check for one AWL word and one comparison phrase.

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15. Glossary

• Collocation — words that naturally go together (completely unimportant, not completely important).
• Degree word — a word or phrase that shows how strongly something is true (fairly, incredibly, terribly).
• Hedging — softening a claim so it sounds less absolute (to some extent, up to a point).
• Near-synonym — a word close in meaning to another but different in strength, register, or use.
• Priority — the thing judged as most important and dealt with first.
• Register — the level of formality of language; it should rise from Part 1 to Part 3.
• Superlative — the form of an adjective showing the highest degree (the most important).