Agreeing and Disagreeing- So do I, Neither do I, etc

To agree with a positive statement:

We use so + auxiliary/modal verb + pronoun:

"I like tea without sugar.'

'So do I.'

To agree with a negative statement:

We use nor/neither + auxiliary/modal verb + pronoun:

"I don't like tea with sugar.'

'Nor do I.' or 'Neither do I.'

To disagree with a positive statement:

We use pronoun + auxiliary/modal verb + not (-n't):

"I like tea without sugar.'

'I don't.'

To disagree with a negative statement:

We use pronoun + auxiliary/modal verb:

"I don't like tea with sugar.'

'I do.”

So do I / I don't either / Neither do I

One way that we can show similarities between ourselves and the people we
talk to is like this:
A: I love Indian food.
B: Yeah, me too. / Yeah. So do I. / I do, too.

If B doesn't like Indian food, the exchange might be like this:

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 A: I love Indian food.
B: Do you? I don't.

I don't either / Neither do I

When we want to show that we feel the same way as somebody else we can use
patterns like these:

o I like tennis - So do I.
o I watch the news every day - Yeah, I do too.

So do I and I do too are used with positive verb forms. However, when we have
negative verb forms (i.e. forms which contain n't or never), we need to use a
different structure to share our feeling:
A: I don't like baseball.
B: No, me neither / Neither do I / I don't either.

Do you? I don't / Don't you? I do.

Be careful about this very important point:
So do I / I do to shows agreement with a positive verb form.
Neither do I / I don't either shows agreement with a negative verb form.

Therefore, if Person A likes pop music but Person B doesn't like pop music. We
do not express it like this:
A: I like pop music.
B: Neither do I.
Neither do I is used to show agreement with a negative verb statement:
A: I don't like chocolate.
B: Neither do I.
When B wants to show that his/her views are diffent from A's, it can be done
like this:

EXPRESSING DIFFERENCE WITH A POSITIVE VERB FORM:

A: I study hard every day.
B: Do you? I don't.

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EXPRESSING DIFFERENCE WITH A NEGATIVE VERB FORM:
A: I never watch television in the evenings.
B: Don't you? I do.

Making our responses more interesting

Of course, if we always respond to people's statements with So do I or Do
you? I don't etc., our responses will not be very interesting. To make them
more interesting, we can try to add an extra detail. Here are some examples:

A: I love Indian food.

B: Yeah, so do I, especially onion bhajis and rogan josh.

A: I don't like chocolate.

B: Neither do I. It usually makes me feel sick.

A: I really love baseball.

B: Do you? I think it's boring. I much prefer football.

A: I never read the newspapers.

B: Don't you? I always read the Guardian while I'm having breakfast

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Group Discussion: Useful Phrases (examples)

Stating your own opinion

- In my opinion, …
- Personally I think that ...
- My own view of the matter/issue is that ...
- It seems to me that ...

Agreeing with an opinion

- Yes, I agree (absolutely).

- I couldn't agree more to what you just said.
- That matches exactly my own view.
- Yes, that is just how I see it.
- I absolutely hold the same view.
- We both share the same point of view.

Partly agreeing with an opinion

- I see what you mean, but ...

- There is certainly some truth in your words, but you fail to notice that ...
- I don't entirely agree with you.
- I understand your reasons; however, I see some aspects a bit differently.

Disagreeing with an opinion

- I'm afraid I can't accept ...

- I simply don't agree with you.
- I fail to see the logic behind any of your arguments.
- Your arguments are not convincing at all!
- Excuse me, but I have to contradict you quite strongly here.
- I couldn't disagree more with what you just said.

Interrupting

- I'm sorry to interrupt here, but ...

- Excuse for breaking in here right now, but ...
- Can I stop you there for a moment?
- Hold on a second. (informal)
- Pardon me, but I think this just leads the debate astray.

Focusing/Structuring

- I think we should focus on the main aspects now.

- Let's now consider another important aspect of today's debate.
- I think we have exchanged our opinions on that point now and should move on ...
- You all highlighted crucial aspects, but have we really discussed ... in-depth?
- Thank you for your honest/thought-provoking views, but we should also pay attention to ….

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