Below are some phrases that you can use to help express opinions.
Some of these phrases are more appropriate for written English such as
giving your
opinion in an essay whereas some can also be used in spoken English.
Personal Point of View
We use these words and phrases to express a personal point of view:
- In my experience…
- As far as I'm concerned…
- Speaking for myself…
- In my opinion…
- From my point of view...
- Personally, I think…
- I'd say that…
- I'd suggest that…
- I'd like to point out that…
- I believe that…
- What I mean is…
Examples:
- How acceptable is it for wild animals to be kept in zoos?
I believe that it is quite unacceptable for animals to be
kept in zoos. It seems to me that when they are confined to a
cage they never have enough room to move around. I would argue
that it is kinder to allow a rare animal to die naturally in the
wilds rather than to prolong its life artificially in a zoo
- From my point of view it makes no difference whether you
return on Saturday night or Sunday morning.
- From a political point of view, the agreement of the UN is
extremely important.
- From the point of view of safety, always wear a helmet when
you are on the building site.
General Point of View
We use these words and phrases to express a point of view that is generally thought by people:
- It is thought that...
- Some people say that...
- It is considered...
- It is generally accepted that...
Agreeing with an opinion
We use these words and phrases to agree with someone else's point of view:
- Of course.
- You're absolutely right.
- Yes, I agree.
- I think so too.
- That's a good point.
- Exactly.
- I don't think so either.
- So do I.
- I'd go along with that.
- That's true.
- Neither do I.
- I agree with you entirely.
- That's just what I was thinking.
- I couldn't agree more.
Disagreeing with an opinion
We use these words and phrases to disagree with someone else's point of view:
- That's different.
- I don't agree with you.
- However…
- That's not entirely true.
- On the contrary…
- I'm sorry to disagree with you, but…
- Yes, but don't you think…
- That's not the same thing at all.
- I'm afraid I have to disagree.
- I'm not so sure about that.
- I must take issue with you on that.
- It's unjustifiable to say that...
Clarifying
an opinion
It may sometimes be necessary to explain a thought in greater detail.
Useful linking expressions for doing this include:
By this I mean…
Here I'm referring to…
To be more precise…
That is to say…
Example:
- By spending money on confining wild animals to zoos, we are
wasting resources. By this I mean there are more urgent
economic problems to deal with: hospitals and schools should be
our first priority.
