Agreement, Partial Agreement, and Disagreement

Agreement, partial agreement and disagreement

The way people agree or disagree in an argument or discussion varies in different

languages.

Agreement:

It is worthwhile saying that silence is not understood as agreement. If you agree

with an opinion or an idea, you are expected to say so.

EXPRESSNG AGREEMENT

 I agree with you 100 percent.

 I couldn't agree with you more.
 That's so true.
 That's for sure.
 (slang) Tell me about it!
 You're absolutely right.
 Absolutely.
 That's exactly how I feel.
 Exactly.
 I'm afraid I agree with James.
 I have to side with Dad on this one.
 No doubt about it.
 (agree with negative statement) Me neither.
 (weak) I suppose so./I guess so.
 You have a point there.
 I was just going to say that.

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EXPRESSING DISAGREEMENT

Expressing disagreement is always respected as honest, and sometimes as

courageous.

 I don't think so.

 (strong) No way.
 I'm afraid I disagree.
 (strong) I totally disagree.
 I beg to differ.
 (strong) I'd say the exact opposite.
 Not necessarily.
 That's not always true.
 That's not always the case.
 No, I'm not so sure about that.
 I don't agree with you.
 I’m sorry, but I disagree.
 I'm afraid, I can't agree with you.
 The problem is that...
 I (very much) doubt whether...
 This is in complete contradiction to...
 With all due respect,…
 I am of a different opinion because ...
 I cannot share this / that / the view.
 I cannot agree with this idea.
 What I object to is...
 I have my own thoughts about that.

PARTIAL AGREEMENT

You can also agree but with reservation especially when there is a doubt or feeling
of not being able to accept something completely

 It is only partly true that...

 That’s true, but…

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  I can agree with that only with reservations.
 That seems obvious, but...
 That is not necessarily so.
 It is not as simple as it seems.
 I agree with you in principle, but…
 I agree with you in part, but…
 Well, you could be right.

Giving Opinions
This is just my opinion, but...

This page lists useful expressions for the language function of giving opinions.

Elementary

1. I (really) think that …

2. I believe (that) …
3. I’m sure that …
4. In my opinion / My opinion is …

Pre-intermediate

1. I agree with …
2. I feel that …
3. I guess/imagine …
4. I have no doubt that / I’m certain that …
5. I strongly believe that …
6. I’ve never really thought about this before, but …
7. My personal opinion is that / Personally, my opinion is that …
8. To be honest / In my honest opinion, …

Intermediate

1. As far as I know, …
2. I agree with the opinion of …

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 3. I could be wrong, but …
4. I’d definitely say that …
5. I’d guess/imagine that …
6. I’d say that …
7. I’m absolutely certain that …
8. I’m fairly confident that …
9. I’m no expert (on this), but …
10.I’m positive that …
11.I’m pretty sure that …
12.It seems to me that …
13.It’s a complicated/difficult issue, but …
14.My (point of) view (on this) is …
15.Obviously, …
16.Some people may disagree with me, but …
17.This is just my opinion, but …
18.Without a doubt, …
19.You probably won’t agree, but …

Upper-intermediate

1. After much thought, …

2. After weighing up both sides of the argument, …
3. Although I can see both points of view / Although I can understand the
opposite point of view, …
4. As I see it, ...
5. Correct me if I’m wrong, but …
6. For me/ From my point of view, …
7. Frankly, …
8. I am not very familiar with this topic, but …
9. I do believe/ feel/think …
10.I have come to the conclusion that …
11.I might change my mind later, but …
12.I reckon/suppose …

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 13.I tend to think that …
14.I’m not sure I’m the right person to ask, but / I have very limited experience
of this, but …
15.I’m pretty confident that …
16.I’ve always thought that …
17.If you ask me, …
18.I'm (absolutely) convinced that …
19.In my humble opinion / IMHO, …
20.It could be said that …
21.It seems clear to me that …
22.It would seem to me that …
23.My initial reaction is …
24.Not everyone will/would agree with me, but …
25.Personally speaking / Speaking for myself, …
26.The way I see it (is) …
27.To be (perfectly) frank, …
28.To the best of my knowledge, …
29.What I think is …
30.You could say …

Advanced

1. After giving this matter some (serious) thought, …

2. As far as I'm concerned, …
3. As the old saying goes, …
4. Having given this question due consideration, …
5. I am of the opinion that …
6. I can’t help thinking that …
7. I know this is a minority view, but / I’m in the minority in thinking that …
8. I tend towards the opinion that …
9. I think it’s fair/reasonable to say …
10.I’ll tell you what I think, …
11.I’m entirely/quite convinced that …

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12.I’ve come the conclusion that …
13.If I must come up with an opinion / If you (really) want my opinion, …
14.In my limited experience, …
15.It could/might well be that …
16.Know what I think? …
17.My opinion was best expressed by … when s/he said/wrote …
18.My view/position on this (issue) (is clear and) is that …
19.Off the top of my head, …
20.Plainly, …
21.Quite frankly, …
22.There is a part of me that says …
23.This may well be controversial, but …
24.To my mind / To my way of thinking, ...
25.To summarise my (rather complex) views on the matter, …
26.What I always say is …
27.With some reservations, …
28.Without a shred/shadow of doubt, …
29.You’d have to be crazy not to agree that / Any idiot can see that …