Below are some useful expressions for agreeing, disagreeing, suggesting alternatives, and interrupting.
| Giving an Opinion In my opinion… I think… The way I see it… According to… As far as I’m concerned… | Asking for an Opinion What do you think? Do you agree? What are your thoughts on this? |
| Agreeing I completely agree. (strong) You’re absolutely right. (strong) I couldn’t agree more. (strong) Exactly. You’re right. I agree. I guess so. (weak) You could be right. (weak) You may have a point there. (weak) | Disagreeing I completely disagree. (strong) I totally disagree. (strong) I disagree. That’s not always true. That’s not always the case. I’m not so sure about that. (weak) I don’t know if I agree with you. (weak) |
| Acknowledging someone’s argument and presenting yours I agree with you, but… That may be true, but… I see your point, but… I guess so, but… That’s not necessarily true because… Not necessarily because… |
| Countering Directly But… But why…? But if… But what about… |
| Interrupting Sorry to interrupt, but… Can I add something? Sorry, you were saying… (after interrupting someone) Please let me finish. (after being interrupted) |
| Redirecting Let’s get back to… Getting back to… You were saying that… |