Giving Opinions and Connecting Ideas

GIVING OPINIONS AND CONNECTING IDEAS
Giving opinions
When writing you may have to:
- give your opinion of issues and ideas.
- show your preference for one concept or another or agree or disagree with a statement.
- support your opinions and ideas with valid arguments.
The following structures and sentence patterns can be used to express your opinion:
In my opinion, A is the best choice
Its my opinion that B is an excellent idea.
I think that X should be used.
Personally, I think / feel / believe that X should not be
Expressing your preference for one concept over another is a way of giving your opinion,
so the sentence patterns for showing your preferences are often combines with the patterns
used to express your opinion:
In my opinion, A is much better choice than B.
Its my opinion that C should be used instead of Y.
I believe that X is preferable to Y.
Personally, I feel that X is superior to Y.
I prefer A to C.
I like Y more than B.
I like to do Y more than to do Z.
I like doing Y more than doing Z.
I would rather do X than Z.*
I would prefer to see B than C.*
I would choose to have X rather than to have Y.*
I generally enjoy going to Z more than to A.*
Pay special attention to the examples marked with an asterisk (*). Notice that the verb
phrase would rather is used with a base form (would rather do). The verb phrases would prefer
and would choose take an infinitive (would rather prefer to see; would rather choose to have).
The verb enjoy takes a gerund (enjoy going).
Showing agreement and disagreement with a person or an idea is also a way of
expressing an opinion:
I agree with the statement that X is the best way to do Y.
I disagree with those people who believe that B is the best option.
I agree that people should generally do A before they do B.
Some people think C is the most important quality in Z, but I dont agree.
Notice that agree / disagree with is used with noun phrases (noun or pronoun), while
agree / disagree that is used with clauses (subject and verb).
You may also need to support your ideas with reasons. Here are some sentence patterns
for giving reasons:
I agree with those people who say that X is true because of Y.
I disagree with those people who believe that B is the best option because A is true.
There are several reasons why I think X is better than Y.
I agree with the opinion of people who believe that X is true. There are several
reasons for this.
Note that because of is a two-word preposition used with noun phrases (noun or pronoun),
while because is a conjunction used at the beginning of clauses (subject and verb) .
You may also need to develop you ideas by providing examples.
I would rather visit Paris than any other city in the world because it has so many cultural
attractions. For example / For instance the Louvre Museum has one of the best
collections in the world
I decided to visit Paris because of its great museums. A good example of this is The
Louvre or the Louvre is a good example of this.
In some countries, such as Portugal, this practice is quite common.

You should not use the phrase for example or for instance + noun as a complete
sentence:
INCORRECT: I would rather visit Paris than any other city in the world because it has so
many cultural attractions. For example / For instance the Louvre Museum.
You can also support a general idea with personal experiences.
Some people support the idea that we should generally do A before we do
The statement says that C is true.. In my experience, this is not necessarily true.
experiences from my own life support this idea.
How can we learn how to do X? For me, there have been at least three ways.
Connecting Ideas
Transition words (such as therefore, however and moreover) and other expressions can be
used to join paragraph to paragraph, sentence to sentence, and clause to clause. Some of
these expressions are given below:
1. Expressions used to list points, examples, or reasons
First example or reason:
First, lets consider ...
The first reason for this is that
One example of this is
Additional examples or reasons:
Second / Third, there is the example of
A second / A third good example is
Another example is
Next, there is the example of
Another reason is that
Final example or reason:
Finally, we have
2. Expressions that show addition
The transition words / phrases in addition, furthermore and moreover can be used to
join clauses or sentences. One point is given in the first clause or sentence and another
in the second clause or sentence.
I like to use my email as a method to keep in touch with my friends because it is
fast; furthermore / in addition / moreover, it is efficient and simple.
3. Expressions that show a result or conclusion
The conjunction so can be used to join two independent clauses. The first clause gives
a reason, the second clause a result.
I believe doing that is a waste of time, so I avoid doing it whenever possible.
The transition words therefore, consequently and thus can be used to join clauses or
sentences. The first clause or sentence gives the reason, the second clause or
sentence a result.
Hes only 17 and therefore / consequently / thus not eligible to vote.
4. Expressions that show contrast.
The conjunction but can be used to join two independent clauses that contain
contrasting information.
People who oppose Y may have some good points, but on the whole, I think Y
serves a useful function.
The adverb clause markers although and while can be used to join an adverb clause
and an independent clause with contrasting information.
Although most of the people in my country choose to study Y as a second
language, I wanted to learn how to speak X first.
Some people believe that doing X is harmful, while others enjoy it.
These transition words / phrases con join clauses and sentences containing contrasting
information.
Many people like to visit large cities such as X or Y; however, I prefer to see
scenic natural places such as Z and A.
Many people think that the government should encourage people to do Y
because it will help the economy. On the other hand, doing Y can have a
number of negative results.
5. Expressions that show similarity
The transition words likewise and similarly can join clauses and sentences containing
similar information.
I think it is useful for children to do X; likewise, I think it is helpful for adults to
do the same.
There is too much violence in movies; similarly, many TV shows contain a lot
of violence.
6. Expressions that introduce a concluding paragraph
These transition phrases can be used at the beginning of the last paragraph of your
response.
In conclusion, for all these reasons, I think that X is a valid argument.
In summary, there is no doubt in my mid that Y is true.
All in all, I must agree with those people who support X.
Below are some additional examples of the vocabulary used for giving opinions and connecting
ideas:
1. I completely agree with the idea of strict gun control for a number of reasons. First,
statistics show that guns are not very effective in preventing crime. Moreover,
accidents involving guns frequently occur. Finally, guns can be stolen and later used in
crimes.
2. I believe that a good salary is an important consideration when looking for a career.
However, the nature of the work is more important to me. Thus, I would not accept a
job that I didnt find rewarding.
3. There are many reasons why I would rather live in an urban area than in a small town.
The first and most important reason is that there are more professional opportunities
for me in a big city than in a small town. Another is that the educational opportunities
for my children are much better in a city. Third, a city offers cultural attractions such as
museums, theatres, and good restaurants. Personally, I think that I would be bored
living in a small town. Therefore, I agree with those people who prefer to live in big
cities.

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GIVING OPINIONS AND CONNECTING IDEAS

In some countries, such as Portugal, this practice is quite common.

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