Pte ee a ae Cae Describing beliefs ‘You would think / Imagine that .. Conventional wisdom is that The popular befit (now) is that... ‘On the face of t Ostensibly, t'seems that ... .- gives the impression of ... gives the outward appearance of . ‘Supposedly, ... / Apparently, ... / Allagadly,... Describing facts But actually / in fact / in reality /in point of fact ... But that's (simply) not the case ... ‘Whereas actually, ... ‘The (sad / paintul) truth is that ... H truth be told ... Behind the surface lies ... di CE ele eg Livery much doubt that 'd be very surprised i that was / were the case. That doesn't surprise me in the least. | think they've got that spot on. That's a common misconception. ‘That's nonsense. | suspect that’s true. That's an old wives’ tale. ‘That's what ... would have you believe. I'd take it/ that with a (big) pinch of sat. | can wall believe that: 1'd have some reservations about thet.IMPROVE YOUR SFEAKING- 02 EK Teseoms to mis (that). have the impression that, Personally, Tomy ming, don's know about you, but 1 1 feel (ssrongly) that, Ivory firmly fee../'m a arm beliover that. 1 (strongly) believe that. Speaking from personal experience, For me personally, ‘WHAT Do-YOU-THINK? How do youfeo! about... ‘What's your take on..? ‘Where do you stand on... ‘What are your thoughts on thie? ‘wnat do you reskon (informal)? GEWERAL OPINIONS: eis generally accepted/belleved that Itisevident that Studies suggest that. /The evidence sug@ests that. EVING YOUR LISTENER ENGAGED: Rhotorical questions (questions you don’: really expect an answer for, you sortof answer them yourself): What do Tmean by that? /Issmoking dangerous? Of course itis Asyyou very well know, .. AGREEING: Absolutely /Rxactly /Definiveiy Ise what you mean 1 see your point Teouldn't agree more ‘You have a point thers. ‘you've hittne nail cn theneaa ‘You took the words right out of my mouth, DISAGREEING: + Tsee your point, but. ‘Your point is wel tacen, but beg to differ (Imatraid) That's not always the case 1 fail to e00 tho point (of..) LOOKING FOR AGREEMENT: + Woulda’s you agres..? + Wouldn’s you say so? + Question tags Isn’tit, has t..) + Youknow whst mean, ACORPTING A SUGGHSTIO IWsadennite mayte REJNOTING A SUGGESTION: ‘To be nonest, 1's not really my cup or tea. ‘To be (perfectly) honest frank, Not to put too fino a point on it (Tm sorry: Tm being completely direct and honest) my GENmRaL By andlarge In general terms arvina BxaMrLEs By may of an example ‘Acasein pointis../ 18a case in point DIRECT THE CONVERSATION TOWARDS THE TOPIC: + By tho wey, + Speaking of. + Speaking of whica, +) That reminds me of, SUMMARISING: + Inanntshell, + Tomsk alongstory short, + Tebowomune is causes: ‘This is Gangely) due to me fact that Toonsider/believe ...tobe a crucial factor ‘The main reason behind this is 1's mainly/mostly down te../on account ot In view of. Seeing that. Has a(n) (clear) effeot/tmpact ‘As a result/On account of ‘Tais invariably/undoubtedly leads to (OFFERING SOLUTIONS: would bea satisfactory solution would bo a pesitive outoemo concLusions: ‘At the ond of the day: