A.

Giving opinions (Speaking)

Opinion phrases Opinion verbs
a) (I strongly believe/think) money can buy happiness. a) (I think) money can buy happiness.
b) (I am sure that) money can buy happiness. b) (I feel) money can buy happiness.
c) (I am quite certain that) money can buy happiness. c) (I believe) money can buy happiness.
d) (I really feel that) money can buy happiness. d) (I guess) money can buy happiness.
e) (It seems to me,) money can buy happiness. e) (I suppose) money can buy happiness.
f) (The way I see it,) money can buy happiness. f) (I assume) money can buy happiness.
g) (If you ask me,) money can buy happiness. g) (I realize) money can buy happiness.
In my opinion, …… (too formal for a discussion) h) (I imagine) money can buy happiness.
From my point of view, …… (too formal for a discussion)
B. Giving reasons
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION: as, because, since
PREPOSITIONS: because of, due to, as a result of, for, owing to
 I think air pollution is getting worse because there are too many vehicles on the roads.
 Since we don’t have much time, let’s keep it simple.
 I’ll be leaving tomorrow as/because/since I have to be back at school on Monday.
 The road is flooded because of/due to/as a result of heavy rain last night.
We can also turn these sentences around and use result words instead of reason words: so, so that, so…that…, therefore,
and as a result.
 I have to be back at school on Monday, so I’ll be leaving tomorrow.
 I have to be back at school on Monday; therefore, I’ll be leaving tomorrow.
 I worked on my project all weekend so that I could hand it in on Monday.
 The pollution is so bad that they are considered leaving Beijing.
Here are some other phrases we can use to introduce reasons:
a) The reason is that … g) Let me explain, ….
b) One reason is that …. h) Well, you see, ….
c) The first reason is that …. i) The point is, ….
d) The main reason is that … j) Secondly, …
e) Another reason is that …. k) Finally, …
f) If I could explain, … l) Well, the thing is, … (informal)
C. Introducing examples
I know many parents who use the internet: mine, for Let’s take an example: Whatsapp.
example. Look at how internet advertising has increased, for
For example, we could use Whatsapp. example.
My parents, for example, are always using the internet. What about Whatsapp, for example?↗
Take my parents, for example. They are always on the An example of this would be Whatsapp.
internet. Can also use like, such as
D. Adverbs showing how sure you are
We can show how sure we are about our opinion by using the following words arranged from strong to weak. The main stressed
syllables are in bold.
a) definitely – We should DEFinitely promote it over the SCHOOL RAdio system.
b) almost certainly – We can almost CERtainly have it ready in a week.
c) probably – We can PROBably get the ComPUter Club to help.
d) hopefully – HOPEfully, we can get a speaker from one of the universities.
e) perhaps / maybe – MAYbe we could raise the money through a MArathon
f) possibly – We could POSsibly do it on a SUNday.