Comments (Stating your Opinion)

Reason

There are many real-life situations where you have to state your opinion, e.g. a friend asks you for advice, your boss wants to hear your opinion on a business matter.
In English lessons, this is also a popular way of testing your English writing skills.

Preparation

Think about the topic first. What's your opinion? What arguments can you use to support your ideas?

Typical Tasks

Comment (stating your own opinion)
state your opinion and give examples and arguments that support your opinion
statement – reason – example
Compare
find common and distinct features
draw conclusions
Criticize
find advantages and disadvantages
comment on somebody's opinion (usually in a negative way)
Discuss
analyse all aspects of a problem (What is …? / Is it okay to …?)
weighing the pros and cons
Evaluate
analyse a problem
show advantages and disadvantages
Justify
support an opinion
show advantages

Word Lists

Opinions and statements
Stating your Opinion: It seems to me that ...; In my opinion, ...; I am of the opinion that .../ I take the view that ..; My personal view is that ...; In my experience ...; As far as I understand / can see, ...; As I see it, ... / From my point of view ...; As far as I know ... / From what I know ...; I might be wrong but ...; If I am not mistaken ...; I believe one can (safely) say ...; It is claimed that ...; I must admit that ...; I cannot deny that ...; I can imagine that ...; I think/believe/suppose ...; Personally, I think ...; That is why I think ...; I am sure/certain/convinced that ...; I am not sure/certain, but ...; I am not sure, because I don't know the situation exactly.; I am not convinced that ...; I have read that ...; I am of mixed opinions (about / on) ...; I am of mixed opinions about / on this.; I have no opinion in this matter.
Outlining Facts: The fact is that; The (main) point is that ...; This proves that ...; What it comes down to is that ...; It is obvious that ...; It is certain that ...; One can say that ...; It is clear that ...; There is no doubt that ...

: Agreeing and Disagreeing
Agreement: There are many reasons for ...; There is no doubt about it that ...; I simply must agree with that.; I am of the same opinion.; I am of the same opinion as the author.; I completely/absolutely agree with the author.
Qualified Disagreement: It is only partly true that...; I can agree with that only with reservations.; That seems obvious, but ...; That is not necessarily so.; It is not as simple as it seems.; Under certain circumstances ...
Disagreement: There is more to it than that.; The problem is that ...; I (very much) doubt whether ...; This is in complete contradiction to ...; What is even worse, ...; I am of a different opinion because ...; I cannot share this / that / the view.; I cannot agree with this idea.; What I object to is ...; Unlike the author I think ...

Conjunctions, Examples, Additions and Conclusion
Linking Arguments: First of all, I think ...; Not only that, but I also think that ...; Not only are they ..., they are also ...; They are not ..., nor are they ...; There are various/several/many reasons for this.; First, ... / Firstly, ...; Second, ... / Secondly, ...; Moreover, ... / Furthermore, ... / In addition, ...; Another significant point is that ...; Finally, ...; On the one hand, ... On the other hand, ...; In contrast to this is ...; Because of ...; That is why ...; After all, ...; The reason is that ...; In that respect ...; The result of this is that ...; Another aspect/point is that ...; It is because ...; Although it is true that ... it would be wrong to claim that ...; That may sometimes be true, but ...; One could argue that ..., but ...
Providing Examples: Take for example (the case of) ...; Look at ...; For instance ... / For example ...; Let me give you an example.
Additions and Conclusion: Most probably ...; It appears to be ...; It is important to mention that...; As I already indicated ...; In other words, ...; I am most concerned about ...; I should like to repeat once again that ...; I should like to emphasise that ...; I would (just) like to add ...; So all in all I believe that...; (In) summing up it can be said that ...; Weighing the pros and cons, I come to the conclusion that ...

Exercises - Topics to comment about

Female managers are generally better managers than male managers.
Advertising: information or manipulation?
Should parents be held responsible for their children's crimes?
Should sex education be increased in schools?
Should physical education course be mandatory in high schools?
Should schools place more emphasis on disciplining
College students should have complete freedom to choose their own courses
Dieting does not help people lose weight.
Should we reduce the presence of technology in our life?
Is gender equality a myth or a sustainable reality?