Appropriate

Expressions When
Speaking
• Stating opinions
- I think…, In my opinion…, I’d like to…, If it were up to me…, I honestly
feel that…,
• Inquiring
- I wonder if…, Do you think/believe that…, What do you think of/about…
• Giving reasons and offering explanations
- The reason why…, That’s why…, Many people think… When you
consider that…
• Summarizing
- In short…, In other words…, To sum it up…, In a nutshell…
Stating Your Opinion
In my opinion, According to me,
In my view, To me,
From my point of view, I think
It seems to me that I believe
From my perspective To my way of thinking
It appears that I suppose
I realize I understand
I imagine I feel
Ex. In my opinion, a good education is more important than a good phone.
Giving Examples
For example, For instance,
such as In other words,
as like
that is namely
To illustrate To paraphrase

Ex. For example, a good student is eager to learn.

 Comparing

Similar to As...as
in common also
Either...or In the same way,
Neither...nor At the same time
Just as resemble

Ex. A regular student can be as good as those in the special class.

Contrasting
However, But
On the contrary, On the other hand,
Differ from Nevertheless
Although Though
Otherwise Instead
Alternatively, Even though

Ex. However, if there is no initiative in learning, it would

make no sense.
Generalizing
Generally, Generally speaking,
Overall, On the whole,
In general, By and large,
It seems to me that I believe
All in all, Basically,
Essentially, As a rule,
All things considered For the most part

Ex. I believe that anyone can do things possible if he/she

works on it.
Concluding/Summarizing
To summarize In conclusion
Lastly, Finally,
To conclude with, In short,
In a nutshell In other words

Ex. In nutshell, better learning depends on the person’s

willingness.
 Parts of an Essay
Introduction
– opens the essay, usually about three sentences.
Body
– main part of an essay. In an argument essay, it is
divided into three paragraphs, giving you opinion and
reasons.
Conclusion
– end of the essay.