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Paul Sparks
- Online English Lesson Plans, Lesson Material and Ideas for Oral English
Lessons, Hunan University of Science and Technology...
ORAL
ENGLISH: Expressing Opinions
HOW DO YOU SEPARATE FACT FROM OPINION?
FACTS: According to the dictionary, a fact is
"anything that is done or happens; anything actually existent; any
statement strictly true; truth; reality."
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Three examples of
facts include:
1.The house was painted on November 18, 1999.
2.Today is Saturday.
3.The temperature was twenty-two degrees this morning.
OPINIONS:
An opinion is defined as "indicating a belief, view, sentiment,
conception." Obvious indicators of opinion are when sentences include
words such as:
"Generally, it is thought…" / "I believe that…"
CHANGING FACTS TO
OPINIONS
Facts can be changed to opinions by adding a belief or view.
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For example:
1. The house was painted recently on November 18, 1999, so it looks as
good as new.
2. Today is Saturday and Mark always sleeps in on Saturdays, so that is
why he is late for the football game.
STATING OPINIONS &
PREFERENCES:
I think..., In my opinion..., I'd like to..., I'd rather..., I'd prefer...,
The way I see it..., As far as I'm concerned..., If it were up to me..., I
suppose..., I suspect that..., I'm pretty sure that..., It is fairly certain
that..., I'm convinced that..., I honestly feel that, I strongly believe
that..., Without a doubt,...
DISAGREEING:
I don't think that..., Don't you think it would be better..., I don't agree,
I'd prefer..., Shouldn't we consider..., But what about..., I'm afraid I
don't agree..., Frankly, I doubt if..., Let's face it, The truth of the
matter is..., The problem with your point of view is that...
GIVING REASONS AND OFFERING EXPLANATIONS:
To start with, The reason why..., That's why..., For this reason..., That's
the reason why..., Many people think...., Considering..., Allowing for the
fact that..., When you consider that...
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