Grade 10: Expressing beliefs EXPRESS A STRONG OPINION: I have to say I’m strongly in favour of… I’m completely against … I’m completly convinced that… I’m absolutely convinvinced that SAY HOW IMPORTANT AN ISSUE IS FOR YOU: This is something I feel very strongly about I’m a great/ firm believer in… I’m quite sure that… I believe that… I’m passionate about … ….without doubt / without a shadow of a doubt This is an issue that’s very close to my heart Certainly/ undoubtedly/ surely QUALIFY YOUR STATEMENT: I’m not an expert but… Grade 10: Expressing opinions tentatively I may be wrong but… Correct me if I’m wrong but… I have my doubts but … I’m not totally convinced but …… There are people who would disagree with me but… SAY THAT YOU’RE UNDECIDED: EMPHASIZE THAT IT’S ONLY YOUR OPINION: If you ask me…….(I think it’s a good idea) I feel it could be … (the best option) I suspect that it could be … (the best option) Something tells me that … I don’t feel particularly strongly about it either way but… I’m on the fence about religion in schools If I had to choose a side… USE MODAL VERBS FOR UNCERTAINTY: It may/ might / could … Maybe/ Perhaps…… INTRODUCE YOUR Grade 10: Developing an argument ARGUMENT I’d like to start by saying/ Let me just start by staying I’d like to talk about… In my opinion… GIVE REASONS Let me tell you why Allow me to explain why Firstly, secondly In addition, moreover CONSIDER COUNTERARGUMENTS There are people who say… I have to admit that there are some good arguments against too… There are many who would disagree Despite these arguments… Notwithstanding these arguments… Nethertheless / However 5.INVITE COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS That’s all I have to say but I’d be interested to know what you think CONCLUDE To sum up… In conclusion Just let me conclude by saying… I’d like to conclude by saying… After considering both points of view… Grade 10: Defending an argument POLITELY DISAGREE: Actually, I think you’ll find that…… I’m not sure I agree with you…… I’m not sure about that… BACK UP YOUR ARGUMENT WITH EXAMPLES: For example… For instance… Take the case of You only have to at… to know it’s true I don’t think that’s necessarily true That’s one way of looking at it To be honest… To tell you the truth…… I see your point but… I don’t entirely agree with you ….is a case in point STRONGLY DISAGREE: QUESTION WHAT THE EXAMINER SAYS: Don’t you think that ……? Are you sure about that? Really? Do you really think so? I couldn’t disagree with you more! I totally disagree with you there Surely you’re not serious! You can’t be serious! Grade 10: Deducing and expressing assumptions Modal Verbs Modal Verbs She must … (be very stressed) She can’t … (be very stressed) She may … (be very stressed) She might ….(be very stressed) She must have… (been very stressed) She can’t have… (been very stressed) She may have… (been very stressed) She might have….(been very stressed) Useful Verbs I suppose ….(she’s very stressed) I imagine….(she’s very stressed) I assume… (she’s very stressed) Useful expressions It sounds like……(she’s very stressed) Judging from what you’ve said… So I guess what your saying is… To conclude… In summary… In a nutshell… To sum up… In conclusion… To summarise… Basically… In conclusion… Grade 10: In brief… Summarising All things considered… To cut a long story short… All in all… What is all boils down to… Looking at the information, it’s clear that… In short… In other words…