Grade

10:

EXPRESS A STRONG OPINION:

I have to say..
Im strongly in favour of
Im completely against

Expressin
g beliefs

Im completly convinced that

Im absolutely convinvinced that..

SAY HOW IMPORTANT AN ISSUE IS

FOR YOU:
This is something I feel very strongly
about

Im quite sure that.

I believe that.

Im a great/ firm believer in.

.without doubt. / without a

shadow of a doubt.

Im passionate about ..

Certainly/ undoubtedly/ surely

QUALIFY YOUR STATEMENT:

Im not an expert but.
I may be wrong but.

Grade 10:

Correct me if Im wrong but.

Expressing
opinions
tentatively

I have my doubts but ..

Im not totally convinced but
There are people who would disagree
with me but

EMPHASIZE THAT ITS ONLY YOUR

OPINION:
If you ask me.(I think its a good idea)
I feel it could be ..(the best option)

SAY THAT YOURE

UNDECIDED:
I dont feel particularly strongly about
it either way but..
Im on the fence about religion in
schools.

I suspect that it could be ..(the best option)

Something tells me that ..
1. INTRODUCE YOUR

ARGUMENT
Id like to start by
saying/ Let me just start
by staying
Id like to talk about.
In my opinion

USE MODAL VERBS FOR

UNCERTAINTY:
5.INVITE
COMMENTS
It may/ might
/ could ..
AND QUESTIONS

Maybe/ Perhaps

Grade 10:
Developing
an argument

Thats all I have to say

but Id be interested to
know what you think.

2.

3. GIVE REASONS

Let me tell you why.

Allow me to explain why.
Firstly, secondly.
In addition, moreover

CONSIDER
COUNTERARGUMENTS
There are people who
say.
I have to admit that there
are some good
arguments against too.
There are many who
would disagree.
Despite these
arguments
Notwithstanding these
arguments

4. CONCLUDE
To sum up
In conclusion..
Just let me conclude
by saying
Id like to conclude by
saying
After considering
both points of view

Grade 10:
POLITELY DISAGREE:

Defending an
argument

Actually, I think youll find that

Im not sure I agree with you
Im not sure about that

BACK UP YOUR ARGUMENT WITH

EXAMPLES:

I dont think thats necessarily true.

For example.

To be honest.

Thats one way of looking at it.

To tell you the truth

For instance.

I see your point but.

Take the case of..

I dont entirely agree with you.

You only have to at..to know its true.

.is a case in point.

STRONGLY DISAGREE:
QUESTION WHAT THE
EXAMINER SAYS:
Dont you think that ?
Are you sure about that?
Really?
Do you really think so?

I couldnt disagree with you more!

I totally disagree with you there.
Surely youre not serious!
You cant be serious!

Grade 10:

Deducing and expressing

assumptions

Modal Verbs

Modal Verbs

She must have..(been very

stressed)
She cant have..(been very
stressed)
She may have..(been very
stressed)
Useful
She
mightexpressions
have.(been very
It sounds like(shes very stressed)
stressed)
Judging from what youve said.
So I guess what your saying is.

She must ..(be very

stressed)
She cant ..(be very
stressed)
She may ..(be very
stressed)
Useful
Verbs.(be very
She might
stressed)
I suppose .(shes very
stressed)
I imagine.(shes very
stressed)
I assume..(shes very
stressed)

To conclude.

In summary.
In a
nutshell.

To sum up.
In conclusion.

To summarise.
Basically.

In
conclusion.

Grade 10:

In brief.

Summarising
All things
considered.
To cut a long story
short.

All in all.

What is all boils down

to.
Looking at the information, its
clear that.

In short.

In other words..