Welcome! In this lesson, you’re going to learn powerful phrases so that you can better give your opinion in English.
Watch the lesson, read the article, and learn the phrases that you need to know for everyday English and so that you can better express yourself.
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I Couldn’t Agree/Disagree More
This is used to say that you agree with someone in a strong way or disagree with someone in a strong way.
Example:
- A: “Football/Soccer is the worst sport in the world.
- B: “I couldn’t disagree more. Soccer is the best sport.”
- A: “Lionel Messi is the best player of our generation.”
- B: “I couldn’t agree more.”
It Is or It Was
This one is very simple yet very flexible.
Here are some examples:
- It’s good.
- It’s bad.
- It’s terrible.
- It was awful.
- It was amazing.
Here is another example. Let’s say I went out with some friends and my wife asked me in the morning:
“How was last night?” “It was awful. Nobody showed up.”
Alternatively, I could say: “It was amazing. Everybody showed up. We had such a great time!”
If you want to say something in between good or bad you can say: “It’s okay.”
Check out this example:
- A: “How is that new restaurant?”
- B: “It’s okay.”
You can say this phrase in different intonations. You can watch the video here if you’d like to learn more.
Would or Wouldn’t
This is used to give your opinion about what somebody should do.
Example:
- I wouldn’t do that.
- I’d do it.
Another one is when you are watching a game and you don’t agree with a position, for example, Ronaldo on the field, you can say “I wouldn’t play him out wide, I would play him as a striker.”
Here’s the last example:
- A: “I’m gonna quit my job and just play computer games all day because I just want to do what I want to do.”
- B: “I wouldn’t do that. I would think about this a little bit more first before you make this decision.”
Think
We can use “think” in 2 main ways:
- To talk about what your opinion is about something
- To give predictions for the future
Here’s an example of giving predictions using “think”. Let’s say there’s someone new in the workplace and people are talking about him and saying: “What is he like?”
- Do you think he’s okay?
- Do you think he’s a nice guy?
- Do you think he’s going to do well here?
Asking about your prediction of the future or what you think. You can say:
- I think he’s nice.
- I think he’s gonna do okay here.
Another common example is you’re thinking about where to go for your next stop.
- A: Let’s go here next.
- B: I think it will be closed now.
Let’s have another football example! “I think that Liverpool are going to go through a tough spell soon.” This means that I think Liverpool is going to lose some games in the near future.
Here are some common examples I often use on my videos:
- I think you’re going to enjoy this lesson
- I think you’re going to find this useful
“I think” is a really good one to learn.
I’d say
This is contracted “I would say”. We use this when we want to give an opinion without being too strong, when we want to soften the opinion a little bit.
Here are some sample sentences:
- I’m not a doctor but I’d say that you need to go to the hospital right now.
- I’m not a doctor but I’d say that that sounds quite dangerous.
- I’d say so. – You can use this to agree with somebody.
Studies Show That
You can use this when you want to give evidence for your opinion. It is used a lot when people are debating about almost anything, common examples are when they’re talking about public policies or which food to eat.
Here’s an example I found on Google when I types “studies show that”:
- Studies show that random acts of kindness are healthy
Studies were done to test if random acts of kindness are healthy. So, if you are having an argument with somebody or debate you can say: “Well, it’s nice to be good to people because studies show that random acts of kindness are healthy.”
Here are some samples from Google:
- Studies show that wealthy and powerful more likely to lie
- Studies show that pets in the workplace are good business
- Studies show that women like psychopaths (Wow! That was totally unexpected.)
So, you can check this out yourself. Just remember, if you have a debate with somebody you can use this knowledge to give a strong argument.
I Reckon
This one is really British, I think they also use this in Australia. “I reckon” is another way to say “I think”.
For example:
- I reckon this will work.
Here’s another one. This one uses relaxed pronunciation. Let’s say you will throw a party and you are thinking about who is going to come or not. Then you talked about David. David doesn’t always go to parties. He usually says he’ll come but he usually doesn’t. But today you have a feeling, then you asked your friend:
“Ja reckon he’ll come?”
This only means “Do you reckon he will come?”. The contraction is really strong on this one and if you want to learn more about contraction you can check this video.
Finally, of course, another football example: “I reckon we’ll get beat today.”
I See What You’re Saying But…
This is used in a way so that you can give your opinion while you want to acknowledge what somebody says, but really you want to give your opinion.
“I see what you’re saying” means I understand your opinion, I understand your though process.
So, “I see what you’re saying but” just means “I am listening to you but my opinion is going to be stronger than yours”.
Here’s an example when my friend Rodrigo and I had an argument on who is a better player.
“I see what you’re saying but Messi is better here.”
This means, I see what you’re saying about Ronaldo, I understand your opinion, but Messi is better.
Here’s a bonus phrase, “I don’t see what you’re saying”, which means I don’t understand your opinion at all.
Not The Best…
This one is a good example of a British understatement. We don’t say this kind of things directly, we understate it.
Here are some sample sentences:
- It wasn’t the best movie. – this means the movie is terrible
- We’re not the best team at the moment. – this means we’re terrible at the moment
- He’s not the most polite(politest) person in the world -which means he is really rude
- It wasn’t the best food I’ve ever had. -you say this instead of saying that the restaurant is awful
In My Experience
This is where you are using your experience to give your opinion extra strength.
Here’s are two examples:
- In my experience, people don’t stick with a goal for long enough.
- In my experience, it’s really hard for people to give up smoking.
