Expressing a Personal Opinion

Giving Reasons

Expressing Personal Doubt

Expressing Disagreement

Expression Support

Stating Something As a Fact

Enumeration of Points

Summing Up, Drawing Conclusions

Fillers in Conversation

Common phrases

Many phrases are suitable in everyday speech and some types of writing, such as on blogs and personal websites. You have probably already seen or used some of these phrases:

• I think…
• I believe…
• I feel…
• In my opinion… and
• I would say…

For example, imagine you have your own food website. Today you’re writing or talking about the world’s best street food. You might say:

In my opinion, Bangkok has the best street food.

Add strength

But suppose you wanted to make the statement stronger. You can do it by adding an adverb or adjective. For example:

• I really think…
• I strongly believe…
• I truly feel… or
• In my honest opinion…

In addition, giving reasons for your opinion adds strength to the claim. Let’s hear the street food statement again:

In my honest opinion, Bangkok has the best street food. I have never seen more choices of what to eat – and everything I’ve tried has been delicious!

Formal phrases

Next, let’s look at a few phrases that are more common in formal situations. You might, for example, hear one of these at a business meeting or a conference, or in a formal paper:

• From my point of view…
• From my perspective…
• In my view… or
• It seems to me that…

Here’s an example:

In my view, cruise ships should be banned. They produce massive amounts of waste and use the dirtiest fuel in the world.

Though phrases like “In my view…” are usually more formal than ones like “I think,” there is no rule for where or when you can use them. It’s often a matter of personal choice.

Asking for opinions

So, imagine you’ve expressed yourself. But what about the opinion of others? Often, when we express an opinion or suggestion, it’s a good idea to ask other people for theirs. Phrases like these help show our desire to hear from others:

• What do you think of…?
• What are your thoughts on…?
• How do you feel about…? and
• What’s your opinion on…?

You can use these questions in many kinds of situations. You might ask, for instance:

What’s your opinion on Futbol Club Barcelona?
How do you feel about the new art director?
What are your thoughts on tonight’s activities?

Agreeing & disagreeing

Finally, let’s talk about agreeing and disagreeing.

Agreeing is the easy part. To show agreement, you can use short, clear statements. Let’s suppose a friend says, “I think summer is way more fun than winter!” You might show you agree by giving one of these responses:

• So do I.
• Me too.
• Definitely.
• I agree. or
• I couldn’t agree more.

Note that, “agree” is a verb in English, so be careful not to say, “I am agree” for the present tense verb.

Concluding or Deducing Words

After your entire write-up or speech, it is essential to conclude your opinions so that it stays in the mind of the readers or listeners. To do so, you may start with some of these phrases listed below:

• Finally …
• In a word …
• In brief …
• In conclusion …
• In the end …
• On the whole …
• Thus, to conclude …
• To summarise …
• To sum up …
• In summary …
• In conclusion, we can say that …