Common Phrases

Word List on Comments

Stating your Opinion

It seems to me that ...

In my opinion, ...

I am of the opinion that .../ I take the view that ..

My personal view is that ...

In my experience ...

As far as I understand / can see, ...

As I see it, ... / From my point of view ...

As far as I know ... / From what I know ...

I might be wrong but ...

If I am not mistaken ...

I believe one can (safely) say ...

It is claimed that ...

I must admit that ...

I cannot deny that ...

I can imagine that ...

I think/believe/suppose ...

Personally, I think ...

That is why I think ...

I am sure/certain/convinced that ...

I am not sure/certain, but ...

I am not sure, because I don't know the situation exactly.

I am not convinced that ...

I have read that ...

I am of mixed opinions (about / on) ...

I am of mixed opinions about / on this.

I have no opinion in this matter.

Outlining Facts

The fact is that

The (main) point is that ...

This proves that ...

What it comes down to is that ...

It is obvious that ...

It is certain that ...

One can say that ...

It is clear that ...

There is no doubt that ...

Linking Arguments

First of all, I think ...

Not only that, but I also think that ...

Not only are they ..., they are also ...

They are not ..., nor are they ...

There are various/several/many reasons for this.

First, ... / Firstly, ...

Second, ... / Secondly, ...

Moreover, ... / Furthermore, ... / In addition, ...

Another significant point is that ...

Finally, ...

On the one hand, ... On the other hand, ...

In contrast to this is ...

Because of ...

That is why ...

After all, ...

The reason is that ...

In that respect ...

The result of this is that ...

Another aspect/point is that ...

It is because ...

Although it is true that ... it would be wrong to claim that ...

That may sometimes be true, but ...

One could argue that ..., but ...

Providing Examples

Take for example (the case of) ...

Look at ...

For instance ... / For example ...

Let me give you an example.

Additions and Conclusion

Most probably ...

It appears to be ...

It is important to mention that...

As I already indicated ...

In other words, ...

I am most concerned about ...

I should like to repeat once again that ...

I should like to emphasise that ...

I would (just) like to add ...

So all in all I believe that...

(In) summing up it can be said that ...

Weighing the pros and cons, I come to the conclusion that ...

Agreement

There are many reasons for ...

There is no doubt about it that ...

I simply must agree with that.

I am of the same opinion.

I am of the same opinion as the author.

I completely/absolutely agree with the author.

Qualified Disagreement

It is only partly true that...

I can agree with that only with reservations.

That seems obvious, but ...

That is not necessarily so.

It is not as simple as it seems.

Under certain circumstances ...

Disagreement

There is more to it than that.

The problem is that ...

I (very much) doubt whether ...

This is in complete contradiction to ...

What is even worse, ...

I am of a different opinion because ...

I cannot share this / that / the view.

I cannot agree with this idea.

What I object to is ...

Unlike the author I think ...

Conjunctions

but / still / however

especially / mainly / particularly

before

as / because / since

so that

then / after that

that's why / so

either ... or

after all

after

of course

though / although / even though

or

as soon as

as long as

finally / eventually

in spite of / even so / all the same

perhaps ...

above all

neither ... nor

because

first of all

for example / for instance