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week: ways of
expressing criticism Related Posts

9 years ago • Add Comment • by Liz Potter • Views: 6,752

Life skills tip of the week:
ways of saying ‘I don’t know’
Learning about pragmatics and how to express
yourself successfully is a useful life skill
skill, said Life skills tip of the week:
ways of giving advice
Michael Rundell in January when he introduced the
new pragmatics series on Macmillan Dictionary. The
Life skills tip of the week:
series is part of the Macmillan Life Skills campaign,
persuasion
o"ering free resources for English language students
and teachers each month.

As part of the series, we’ll bring more useful content

and tips from the Macmillan Dictionary on
expressing yourself.

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This week’s language tip helps with ways of expressing criticism

criticism. Sometimes
you have to criticize something someone has said or done, and this can require
tact and politeness. Here are some expressions that are used to introduce or
soften criticism:

“ I have to say/I’m bound to say: used when you are going to say
something that may annoy or upset someone, especially because it
expresses criticism:
I have to say/ I’m bound to say , I found his performance pretty
disappointing.

With respect/With all due respect: used when you are going to
disagree with someone or criticize someone, in order to sound more
polite:
With all due respect , Mr Davies, I do think you’re being a little
unreasonable.

To say the least/To put it mildly: used for suggesting that something
is worse or more extreme than you are saying:
I think his behaviour in the meeting was immature, to put it mildly .
I found the flight rather uncomfortable, to say the least .

Shall we say? used in the middle of a sentence for making a statement

or criticism seem less severe or offensive:
The training programme seems, shall we say , a little dull.

Don’t get me wrong: used when you want to make sure that someone
understands your comments correctly, especially when you are criticizing
them:
Don’t get me wrong , I do like Christine, I just don’t think she’s right
for you.

How shall I put it?/Let me put it this way: used when you are going
to say something that is honest but may sound rude or unkind:
Her boyfriend is a bit, how shall I put it , difficult to get along with.
Let me put it this way , I wouldn’t miss her if she left.

Without wishing to do something: used when you are going to say

something that someone may not like:
Without wishing to hurt your feelings, I think you need to lose a little
weight.

To be fair/In all fairness/To give someone their due: used for

making your criticism of someone or something seem less strong by
mentioning something good about them:
Vicki’s schoolwork has been poor this term, though, to be fair , her
maths has improved.
She never calls me, though to give her her due , she always
remembers my birthday.

Would you like to learn more about pragmatics? Keep a close eye on
our pragmatics page; you can find the ninth life skills lesson plan there. For
more information about Life Skills, visit the Macmillan Life Skills page.

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