Writing

1. STEPS FOR WRITING AN OPINION COMPOSITION
1. Read the title of the composition and think about what your opinion is.
2. Brainstorm : think about what you want to say and write down all your
ideas.
3. Choose the most interesting or relevant ideas to support your opinion.
4. Organize the ideas into paragraphs and put the paragraphs in order:
a. Opening paragraph: state the topic and give your opinion
b. Body paragraph(s): each paragraph develops one idea that supports
your opinion
c. Conclusion paragraph: summarize your opinion and give a final
recommendation
5. Write a draft.
6. Edit your draft: check spelling, grammar and punctuation.
7. Have your draft edited by a peer.
8. Write your final composition
Example of PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
‘Do you think eating a healthy diet can have a positive influence on
people’s behaviour?
Opening Paragraph: state the topic and give your opinion
Body : each paragraph develops one idea that supports your opinion
Explain the ideas that support your opinion in a logical and organized way.
Use different expressions to sequence or to add ideas, and to introduce
opinions
e.g.:” First of all … “
“ Furthermore….”
“In my opinion…”
Begin with a general statement e.g.: “Modern lifestyle is changing people’s
eating habits ...”
and give your opinion e.g.: “I think eating a healthy diet can have a positive
influence on many areas of our daily life.”

2. Conclusion: summarize your opinion and give a final recommendation
Begin the paragraph with an expression that marks the conclusion
e.g.:”In short/To sum up/In conclusion … “
(summarize your opinion)
e.g.: “As far as I am concerned …” (suggest something to improve the situation)
EXPRESSIONS YOU MAY USE IN YOUR TEXT TO …
Introduce your opinion:
In my opinion… En mi opinion
I(personally)) think/I believe/ Personalmente creo que/no creo que
I feel/I don’t feel that… Me parece/no me parece que
In my view/ In my point of view …. Bajo mi punto de vista
As I see it… Como lo veo yo
As far as I’m concerned … En lo que a mi respecta
It’s clear to me that… me parece evidente que
I agree/I don’t agree that… Estoy de acuerdo en que/ No...
Sequence ideas:
To begin with… Para empezar ...
The first point is… El primer argumento es ...
First of all …/First/Firstly,... En primer lugar ... / Primeramente,...
Secondly/ Thirdly… En segundo lugar/ en tercer lugar
Finally…/Lastly… Por último…
Add information
Furthermore, … Además (formal)
Moreover, …. Además (formal)
In addition, … Además (less formal)
Besides, … Además (the least formal)
What is more, … Es más, ...
Also…/...too También
As well as… al igual que
Apart from (that)… Aparte de (eso)
Give a reason
Due to(+noun)/Due to the fact that(+sentence) Debido a/Debido al hecho de que…
Owing to(+noun)/Owing to the fact that(+sentence) “
Because……(+sentence) porque
Because of………(+noun e.g.: the rain) a causa de / por ... (e.g.: la lluvia)
Since…/As……(+sentence e.g.: he is the boss) ya que, puesto que…(e.g.: él es el jefe)
That’s why ... por eso ...
For this/that reason por esta/esa razón…
Express a consequence
Cosequently… en consecuéncia
Therefore… por lo tanto
So… así que, por eso…
As a result of… como consecuencia de
This means that… esto significa que

3. Introduce the conclusion
In short… en resumen
In brief… “
In summary… “
To sum up “
In conclusion… en conclusión
To conclude… “
CONJUNCTIONS
According to - de acuerdo con / según Namely - a saber
After - después que Neither... nor - ni... ni
Although - aunque, si bien Nevertheless - sin embargo, no obstante
And - y Nor - ni
As - cuando, mientras, a medida que, como Notwithstanding - no obstante
As if - como si Or - o
As long as - mientras, con tal que Or else - sino
As soon as - en cuanto Otherwhise - de otra manera, si no
As though - como si Provided - siempre que , con tal de que
As well as - además de Providing - siempre que , con tal de que
Because - porque Since - puesto que, ya que, desde que
Because of - debido a So as to - para
Before - antes que So as not to - para no
Both...and - tanto...como So that - para que
But - pero Still - sin embargo, no obstante
But - sino Than - que ( en comparaciones )
Either... or - o... o Therefore - por lo tanto
Even though - aunque Though - aunque
Except - excepto, salvo Unless - a menos que
For - porque Until - hasta que
Furthermore - además Whenever - cada vez que, cuando
However - sin embargo Whereas - siendo que, mientras
If - si Whether - si
In case of - en caso de Whether... or - si... o
In order to - para While - mientrar, mientras que, aunque
Moreover - además, por otra parte Yet - sin embargo, no obstante
More Expressions you can use to introduce an opinion
In my opinion, ... In my eyes, ...
To my mind, ... As far as I am concerned, ... Speaking personally, ...
From my point of view, ... As for me / As to me, ... I dare say that ...

4. I would say that ... It seems to me that ... I am of the opinion that ..
My impression is that ... I am under the impression that ... It is my impression that .
I have the feeling that ... My own feeling on the subject is that ...
I have no doubt that ... I am sure / I am certain that ...
I hold the opinion/ the view that ... (I form / adopt an opinion.)
I guess that ... It goes without saying that ...
My view / opinion / belief / impression / conviction is that ...
I think / consider / find / feel / believe / suppose / presume / assume that ...