useful expressions

1. EXPRESSIONS TO GIVE OPINIONS
General opinion.
•I think/ believe/feel that…
•It seems to me (that)…
•In my opinion/ view, …
•As I see it, …
Advantages and disadvantages
•On the one hand…./On the other hand….
•A(n) (dis)advantage of… is…
•One major/minor benefit of … is…
•One big/ small drawback to … is…
•The best/worst part is…
•There are (a lot of) (dis) advantages.
•It has (several ) disadvantages.
•Another (dis)advantage is…
Suggestion
• One option/idea would be to… Another option/idea would be to…
•I think (you) should(n’t)…
•(You)’d better…
•Don’t…
•Why don’t (you)…?
•How about… ing…?
•It’s a good idea to…
•(You) could/ must

2. EXPRESSIONS TO GIVE OPINIONS
Possibility and uncertainty
• I think.. might…
•I’m not sure about/ if…
•It’s possible that…
•Perhaps… could..
Speculations
It’s difficult to say…
I think… will
If + (present)…, …will…
Hopefully, …..
It looks as if…
It seems that…
Examples
• For example,….
•For instance, …
•To give you an example…
•As an illustration,….
Desires
• I wish …(past tense)…
•I hope that… will
•I hope/want to…

3. EXPRESSIONS FOR DISCUSSIONS
Giving your opinion
•I think/ believe/feel that…
•It seems to me (that)…
•In my opinion/ view, …
•As I see it, …
Asking for other people’s opinions
•What do you think about/of…?
•What’s your opinion of/ about…?
•What are your views on…?
•What are your feelings about…? /How do you feel about…?
Strongly agreeing/ disagreeing
Exactly. × Absolutely not!
That’s true. × No way!
I wouldn’t say it better . × I strongly disagree…
 You’re perfectly right . × I think you’re wrong.
 I couldn’t agree more. × I simply can’t agree to this.
That’s just what I was thinking. × I think the opposite.
I’m of the same opinion. × I have a different opinion about it.
Mildly agreeing/ disagreeing
•Well, I don’t think so •In my opinion I consider that…
•Sorry to… but… •I don’t entirely… with you.
•That’s not really how I see it.
•I’m not totally convinced by your argument.
•With certain reservations, I would support your opinion/argument.

4. EXPRESSIONS FOR DISCUSSIONS
Asking to clarify or repeat something
•I’m sorry?
•Could you repeat/explain that, please?
•Pardon?
•Would you mind repeating that?
•I’m afraid I didn’t get it.
•What do you mean by…?
Giving yourself time to think
•Let me see.
•Can I think about that for a moment?
•How can I put this/ best explain?
•Um… Well…
•What’s the best way of putting it?
Saying something in another way
•What I mean is…
•What I’m trying to say is…
•To put it in another way…
Conceiding
•If you say so…
•I’m persuaded by your arguments/points
•I haven’t thought about it.
•Well, that might be correct/ the option…

5. EXPRESSIONS FOR DISCUSSIONS
Referring back
As we are saying earlier
To go back to what I was just saying
To go back to what X was saying earlier
We appear to be strain from the point/ our purpose/mandate
I do not wish to labout the point, but …
As I said/mentioned earlier/before
If I may just return/go back/revert briefly to what I was saying ….
Interrupting
•Can I come in here?
•I’m terribly sorry to interrupt you, but …
•Forgive me for interrupting, but …
•I don’t want to interrupt, but …
•If I might just say a word about …
•Could I come in at this point?
•If I can just stop you for a moment
•Before you go any further, may I point out/indicate/explain
Reaching a conclusion
•So, weighing up the pros and cons we could say/conclude that…
•To conclude/ sum up,
•If you will agree to… I’ll agree to…
•That works for me.