The Language of Fact and Opinion: Signal Words and Phrases

As we mentioned above, often writers will liven up their facts with a sprinkling of opinion.
Unfortunately, it can at times be difficult to extract the verifiable truths from the author’s
preferences and biases. Luckily the language used itself often throws up helpful clues in the forms of
words and phrases that assist us in identifying statements as fact-based or opinion-based.

Let’s now take a look at some examples of those signal words and phrases being used in the
sentence fragments that often precede a statement of fact or opinion:

Fact

● The annual report confirms…

● Scientists have recently discovered…

● According to the results of the tests…

● The investigation demonstrated…

Opinion

● He claimed that…

● It is the officer’s view that…

● The report argues that…

● Many scientists suspect that…

As we can see from the above examples, the language used to introduce a statement can be helpful
in indicating whether it is being framed as a fact or an opinion.

It is important for students to understand too that things are not always as they appear to be. At
times, writers, whether consciously or not, will frame opinion as fact and vice versa. This is why it is
important that students develop a clear understanding of what constitutes fact and opinion and are
afforded ample opportunities to practice distinguishing between the two.

Common Misconceptions about Fact and Opinion

1. Opinions are Bad; Facts are Good
An old TV program featured a detective who, on interviewing witnesses on a case, would insist, “Just
the facts, Ma’am” when the witness began rambling on with her perceptions. Actually, detectives
don’t go around crime scenes gathering “facts” from the public—the reason they would talk to the
public would be mostly because they are interested in people’s opinions of the crime. Why would
the police go to the neighbor and ask about the victim’s comings and goings to just to learn that the
victim left home at 8:30 am every day and came back at 5:30 pm without fail? Why wouldn’t they
want to hear the neighbor’s opinion on the victim’s comings and goings—that the neighbor thought
the victim was crashing bore, for example? Whether or not this is “true,” it does reveal something
about both the victim and neighbor; it’s valuable information. Facts police can usually gather
themselves.

2. All Opinions are Equal

My mother recently didn’t want to hear her doctor’s opinion on her case—it was just an opinion. I
tried to explain to her that the opinion of her doctor pertaining to her health was qualitatively
different from mine, for example, or her granddaughter’s, or even her son-in-law’s, who is a doctor
but not in the correct specialty in this case. I don’t know how much I got through to her.

Similarly, students, especially at lower levels, think that they shouldn’t include their opinion—it’s just
an opinion, and of no worth. On the contrary, that’s what your reader generally wants to hear—your
thesis is your opinion—supported, of course. Even when I as your teacher tell you “Describe the
University of Pacific,” I am really asking for your opinion. I don’t want to hear “University of the
Pacific is in Stockton, California and is a small private campus with several thousand students.” I
know all of that or can easily learn it from the university website. I want to hear your opinion of it.
Facts in this case make for dull writing because the writer can’t develop the ideas: I can do nothing
with “University of the Pacific is in Stockton.” So what? “University of the Pacific is an excellent
small, liberal arts school” is something that can be developed, and here is where facts are
important—as the details, not the main ideas. Give the student population details as support for the
quality of the school, not as main ideas of themselves.

3. Writing Should be Based on “Facts”

Most writing actually is opinion. You would probably not want to read an essay that recounted “just
the facts” of the life of Abraham Lincoln, for example. It is the writer’s particular take and
perspective on his life and how he managed his marriage, the country, and the war that is
interesting.

4. A Human Writer can be Objective

Some people pride themselves on somehow doing this, being “objective.” This isn’t possible. The
facts that I was born female, American, and in the latter part of the 20th century inform how I view
the world and how I write. The best I can do is acknowledging my perspective and biases and try for
balance and objectivity.
5. Bias is Bad

The very term “bias” has an ugly sound to many Americans, conjuring up images from the pre Civil-
Rights era, perhaps, where “bias” was something that intruded in the lives of many Americans in a
negative way. “Bias” actually just means a predisposition for or against something; again, we all hold
it, based on past experiences. My own bias in terms of housing, for example, is of single-family units
in suburban neighborhoods. That is what I grew up with; that’s what I picture when someone says
“house.”