Strategies for Part 3

Identifying Opinion Indicators

Opinion indicators are words or expressions which indicate a speaker’s opinion or point of view on something. In the activity in the previous topic, you saw some of these indicators, but there are many others. Here is a more complete list of opinion indicators divided into five categories.

   CategoryOpinion indicators
Giving personal opinionsIn my opinion,…I think…I believe…I’d say…I personally feel that…In my point of view,…From my way of thinking…In my mind…
Asking for opinionsWhat do you think about…?How do you feel about…?What are your views on…?Do you think…?Don’t you think…?
AgreeingYes.You’re right.I suppose you’re right.I (completely) agree. I couldn’t agree more.Exactly.Definitely.Absolutely.
DisagreeingYes, but…I’m afraid I don’t really agree.I can’t say that I agree.I (completely) disagree.I don’t think so.I doubt it.I wouldn’t say that.Not really.
Expressing reservationYes, but the problem is…I’m not so sure if…But there’s one problem…I’m a little worried about…

Now practise listening for opinion indicators in context with the following activity. 

Stressing Words to Express Opinions

Another useful strategy that you can use to recognise speakers’ opinions is listening for stressed words. By ‘stressed’ we mean words that are emphasised when we speak in order to show important words. This is a common conversational feature that speakers use to highlight facts and express opinions.

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