EMPHATIC EXPRESSIONS

Strange as it may / might seem…..

Try as I may / might, I still can’t figure out……

No matter how hard I try, I….

That’s an understatement… (it seems less but in fact it’s more)

It’s beyond my wildest beliefs

What has caught my eye is that…

I want to draw your attention to……

It isn’t politically correct - a politically correct word or expression is

used instead of another one to avoid being offensive.
I am lost for words ….

I am speechless…

Funny you should say that…

I am utterly appalled that…

I am fully aware of…
I distinctly remember that…
I am bitterly disappointed to….
It is on the tip of my tongue

It has slipped my mind the fact that…

There is nothing better / worse than….

There is nothing interesting whatsoever in this picture…

There’s no way I can ….

It is out of the question…

Correct me if I’m wrong but….

I wouldn’t go to such lengths…..

For what it’s worth …..

At the end of the day….

It’s as clear as day that….

It’s far from being…..

Let’s get straight to the point…

You seem to be beating about the bush /you’re missing the point…

To cut a long story short….

Let’s cut to the chase…
I’m under the impression that…
I get the feeling that…
I’m trying to figure out what….

HALF-AGREEING

I see/ take your point, but...

I see what you mean, but...

I don’t mean to cast a shadow over…but…..

With all due respect but….
I have a different mindset about this.

ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION

What do you mean?

Sorry, I don't really see what you are getting at.
Sorry, I don't quite follow you.
END OF AN ANSWER

That’s my opinion, anyway.

So, in short …
All in all …
And that’s about it, really.

EXCLAMATIONS

What an interesting point of view!

What a great/brilliant/fantastic idea!
What an amazing coincidence!
What a terrible experience!
What a pity! What a shame!
What bad luck!
How weird/ strange/ bizarre/ odd!
How interesting!
How annoying!
How embarrassing!
How awful!

ALLOWING YOURSELF TIME TO THINK

I need to think about it for a moment.

That’s an interesting question.
That's a tricky question, really.
Well, it’s difficult to say, really.
That's quite a difficult one.
Let me see ...
It depends …
I guess an honest answer would be …
I suppose the easiest answer to that question is …
If I think about it, I suppose …
The best example that comes to mind is ...
I have never given it a lot of thought ...
I must admit I haven't really thought about it much before ...
GENERALISING

Broadly speaking ...

To a great extent ...
It is common knowledge that….

Contrary to popular belief …..

Rumour has it that…..

 TALKING ABOUT MISUNDERSTANDINGS

I was under the impression that …

I thought that … but in fact …
Naturally / Obviously, I assumed that …
It turned out that …

COMPARING PICTURES

The most obvious similarity is that both pictures show …

You can see … in both pictures.
The … in the first picture is/are … . Similarly, the … in the second picture is/are …
The … is the same in both pictures.
In the first picture ... but in the second one ...
This picture ... while on the other hand this one ...
In comparison to the first picture, this one ...
The biggest difference between the two pictures is that the first picture shows … whereas the
second one shows …
While the first picture shows ...the second picture on the other hand …
The … is completely different in the two pictures.
What strikes me about the first picture is the fact that…

This picture reminds me of…

Judging from the picture, the children…

The man/woman appears/seems to be…

From what we can see here, he must…

There are many similarities…

Both pictures depict…
o Both pictures are quite similar in that they show…
o When you give it a closer look it reveals…
o The first picture … whereas the other picture …
o Another important difference is…
o Picture … doesn’t show … as clearly as …
o Picture … attempts to … but I think picture … does this more effectively…
o All pictures are interesting, but … gives a stronger idea of…
o It’s difficult to tell from this picture but it could…
o I might be wrong, but I would say that this picture…
o I would imagine/guess that this picture comes from…
o Picture … is by far the best to show because…
o To me, picture … is essential for this kind of publication.
o I’m surprised there is no picture showing…
o A picture of … would get the message across more effectively.
Intermediate

1. As far as I know, …
2. I agree with the opinion of …
3. I could be wrong, but …
4. I’d definitely say that …
5. I’d guess/imagine that …
6. I’d say that …
7. I’m absolutely certain that …
8. I’m fairly confident that …
9. I’m no expert (on this), but …
10. I’m positive that …
11. I’m pretty sure that …
12. It seems to me that …
13. It’s a complicated/difficult issue, but …
14. My (point of) view (on this) is …
15. Obviously, …
16. Some people may disagree with me, but …
17. This is just my opinion, but …
18. Without a doubt, …
19. You probably won’t agree, but …

Upper-intermediate

1. After much thought, …

2. After weighing up both sides of the argument, …
3. Although I can see both points of view / Although I can understand the opposite point of view, …
4. As I see it, ...
5. Correct me if I’m wrong, but …
6. For me/ From my point of view, …
7. Frankly, …
8. I am not very familiar with this topic, but …
9. I do believe/ feel/think …
10. I have come to the conclusion that …
11. I might change my mind later, but …
12. I reckon/suppose …
13. I tend to think that …
14. I’m not sure I’m the right person to ask, but / I have very limited experience of this, but …
15. I’m pretty confident that …
16. I’ve always thought that …
17. If you ask me, …
18. I'm (absolutely) convinced that …
19. In my humble opinion
20. It could be said that …
21. It seems clear to me that …
 22. It would seem to me that …
23. My initial reaction is …
24. Not everyone will/would agree with me, but …
25. Personally speaking / Speaking for myself, …
26. The way I see it (is) …
27. To be (perfectly) frank, …
28. To the best of my knowledge, …
29. What I think is …
30. You could say …

Advanced

1. After giving this matter some (serious) thought, …

2. As far as I'm concerned, …
3. As the old saying goes, …
4. Having given this question due consideration, …
5. I am of the opinion that …
6. I can’t help thinking that …
7. I think it’s fair/reasonable to say …
8. I’ll tell you what I think, …
9. I’m entirely/quite convinced that …
10. I’ve come the conclusion that …
11. If I must come up with an opinion / If you (really) want my opinion, …
12. In my limited experience, …
13. It could/might well be that …
14. Know what I think? …
15. My opinion was best expressed by … when s/he said/wrote …
16. My view/position on this (issue) (is clear and) is that …
17. Off the top of my head, …
18. Plainly, …
19. Quite frankly, …
20. There is a part of me that says …
21. This may well be controversial, but …
22. To my mind / To my way of thinking, ...
23. What I always say is …
24. With some reservations, …
25. Without a shred/shadow of doubt, …