This document provides an outline and common phrases for writing argumentative essays. It includes sections on making general statements, agreeing, disagreeing, refuting points, discussing advantages and disadvantages, making comparisons and contrasts, stating opinions, explaining topics, identifying causes and effects, and drawing conclusions. Standard transitions and expressions are also provided for linking different parts of the essay.

1. Argumentative essay
General statement
Agree
Disagree
Refutal
General beginners
1) On the whole , people tend to feel that ………
2) A majority of people / nations experience ....
3) Nowadays….all people/In this day…many people/ These days…most./Some people…
4) From the evidence of developing country all the world…
5) Fortunately/ unfortunately many countries..
6) There is always somecontroversy over whether…
7) The issueof whether…
8) It is often believed/ said…
9) It is universally accepted that…/ It is generally accepted that..
10) It is well known fact that..
11) Basically speaking;in the modern day;
12) There are various conflictingviews about…
13) Generally,………, generally speaking
14) In general, ….., By and large
15) It seems to me that ………, I believe
16) All in all,….,basically ,
17) Essentially ,………., As a rule,
18) Typically ,………tends………, may/ might / sometimes / usually.
Agreement
1) I would argue that…
2) I firmly believed that..
3) It seems to me that…
4) I tend to think..
5) As far as I can tell…
6) I am convinced that…
7) I would always supportthat..
8) I think it is reasonableto say that…
Disagreement
1) Others believe that…
2) Some people think that…
3) Some people Opine/support/promote…
4) It is understood by some….
5) Some people accept the…
6) I t has been argued that…

2. Refutal
1) Even if it is believed..
2) I am unconvinced..
3) It is hard / difficultto accept..
4) There is littleevidence to support…
5) However, my argument is…
6) Regardless of the views….
Advantages and disadvantages
General statement
Advantages
Disadvantages
Your views (opinion)
General statements can include
1) It is not unusual / uncommon for…/impossible…
Meaning – It is quite usual for,common for , possiblefor
2) It is not inconceivablethat…
3) There is a slightpossibility…
Parellel expressions.
Advantages Disadvantages
An obvious benefit A drawback
An argument in favour of An argument against
A positiveaspect A frequent / common criticism
A good point
An objection
A negative effect
An ill-effect
1) WhileI appreciatethe…,/I think we…
2) I am convinced that…
3) It is not correct that…
4) I think..
5) It may be true that…but,
To list advantages
1) One/ another/ afurther / an additional ( major)advantages of …is…

3. 2) The main / greatest/ firstadvantages of …is….
To list disadvantages
1) One/ another / a further / an additional ( major) disadvantages / drawback of….
2) The main / greatest / most serious / firstdisadvantage/ drawback of….
3) Another negative aspectof ……
Useful expressions
I am never/ always surprised to…Highly disappointed…
Rarely / deeply shocked…. Frequently / surprised…
Try adding an adverbs to your phrases –phrases with adjectives and nouns.
Adverbs Adjectives Nouns
Totally Unhelpful/helpful Idea
Absolutely Old fashioned /current View
Quite Unrealistic / realistic Suggestion
Rather Negative / positive comment
Fairly One –sided/ impartial point
Unpopular /popular argument
Pessimistic/ optimistic ( neutral)
Discuss and give opinion
General statement
Compare (positives)
Contrast( negatives)
Your opinion
Comparisions

4. 1) Children aresimilarto animals in their need to be cared for and loved.
2) The pattern followed is similar…
3) It is safeto say that /// reflects the way I ….
4) In the sameway OR likewise….; similarly;identically ….
5) The issues/ideas/statement are comparable/ incomparable
6) To reflect; to mirror;in the same way; to have in common.
7) Similar to, As……..as, in common, also,
8) Either …….or , In the same way ,
9) At the same time.
10) Just as , resemble
Contrast
1) On one hand….,on the otherhand…
2) Whilethis is….,Itis also…
3) Contradictorily;by contrast…;whereas; however..; regardless of the views…; eventhough…;despite…;on
the contrary; inspiteof …,, not only …but also…,nevertheless ; nonetheless; alternatively;different
from.
4) Differ from
5) Although, Though , otherwise, instead ,but.
Opinion
1) My opinion is that… , In my opinion
2) The way I see it is that…
3) In my view…
4) As far as my belief goes,….
5) Here I`m (not) referringto …
6) I would always supportthat…
7) The way I see it, is different form …
8) I can never accept ….
9) As far as I can see…
10) The fact that…does not mean…
11) Many people would disagreewith the assertion/ idea that…
12) What this means is
13) In other words,
14) That is to say
15) To be more precise
16) In fact,I suppose
Explanatory
General statement
How ?
Why?
Conclusion

5. Useful language
1) It is certainly truethat…
2) It is observed that…
3) In this content, itis appropriateto say that …
4) There is every reason to believe that…
5) It is inevitablethat…
6) Just because ….it does not necessarily followthat…
Relevant examples;
1) This is obvious from…
2) This is evident in ….
3) We can see this is
4) This can be seen from the factthat ….
5) This is apparentis….
6) It must be taken into accountthat…
7) That is to say…
8) Evidence supports…
9) Expressions—for examples ; for instance; indeed; infact;of course ;if this is the case; naturally;letme
illustrate.
10) A good illustration of this is
11) If we take an example
12) Evidence for this is provided by
13) We can see this when,such as , in other words,as,like,that is,namely,as a rule ,for instance
Conclusion
1) To sumup…
2) Overall…
3) In the final analysis….
4) In conclusion …
5) Ultimately…
6) Havinglooked at…it can safely be said….
7) In recapitulation…
8) Considering all theargument presented….
9) All in all ,itcan be safely concluded…..
10) To finally analysis thesituation….
11) Finally,itcan besummed up as……
12) So, in conclusion,I think that……
13) Havingdiscussed….We should consider….
14) Given ….. the problems/ factors,we can firmto the question of…..
15) Havingexamined the casefor…
16) To summarise
17) On balance,
18) This complex issuewith no clear answers

6. 19) If we look at both sides of the arguments.
Cause and effects
General statement
Causes
Effects
Measures
Causes;
1) The explosion in crimecan be explained by….
2) Poverty is a common causeof crime…
3) Poverty contributes to crime…
4) Atmosphere pollution is caused by….
5) The major causefor crimeis ….
6) The making of newspapers leads to ….
7) Tourismcausethe destruction of…
8) Probably these are mainly due to…
9) ………….leads to…….
10) …..makes………..Do something.
11) ………..causes a considerable….
12) This is surely a causeof concern.
13) ……….simply makes the situation worse.
14) ………which is often due to……
15) Further ………can cause increased……..
16) To make matters worse……
17) It is a causefor concern that ……….
18) ………cause many problems.
19) Due to…….., because
20) Because of …………, owing to
21) One of the causes of this is
22) This has resulted in
23) As a esult,
24) This has led to
Effects;
1) Tourismresults in ……..
2) The effects of ……..are….
3) Many of the effects of ……..are…..
4) ……..is partly because of ………..
5) Thanks to ……, …..is
6) ………..is more or less responsiblefor……..
7) The reason why …..is ………, is ……….
8) Traffic noiseresults in ……….
9) Have an effect

7. 10) ………can be effective.
11) Traffics noiseresults from………
12) Another worryingtrend is ………….
13) Therefore,
14) As a result,
15) Consequently,
16) For this reason,
17) Thus,
18) So,
19) Thereby,
20) Eventually,
21) Hence,
22) The reason why,
Solutions;
1) The main solutions……….
2) What people should do aboutthis is ……….
3) One thing that would improve the situation is ……….
4) The government should take measures…….
5) The trend could be reserved of………….
6) ……..is needed to combat these problems.
7) …….in terms of other solutions. Weneed to………..
Sequencing / listing
1) To begin with…..
2) In the firstplace,…….
3) First,….. second,……….third,……..,thirdly
4) First,….Next,…..Then,….After that,….. Finally,…
5) Firstly,Firstof all,To begin/ startwith,
Reinforcing –use to add to and thus strengthen what you aresaying.
1) Also,…….
2) In addition,…….
3) Furthermore,……..
4) Moreover,………
Expressing certainty
1) Certainly,undoubtedly, doubtless , definitely, of course,
Expressing partial agreement
1) More or less , to some extend , up to a pointalmost, in a way , so to speak,