Debate
expressions
These phrases
are from Debate and Discussion by David Moser
Expressing
opinions:
- - I think/believe/feel that
- - In my opinion ………………………………………
- - The way I see it is that …………………………………
- - I'm [quite/fairly/pretty] sure/certain/convinced that …………………
- - According to [...]...
- - As far as I'm concerned...
- - If you ask me...
- - Without a doubt...
- - You must admit/agree that...
- - I'd like to point out that...
Giving
reasons:
- - To begin/start with...
- - The reason why...
- - That's [the reason] why...
- - For this reason...
- - Many people think/say that...
- - Allowing for the fact that...
- - When you consider...
Expressing
agreement:
- - I agree with you
- - That's very true.
- - You're [absolutely/quite] right.
- - Definitely/ Exactly
- - No doubt about it
- - ...too/neither...
- - I suppose/guess...
- - You have/ you've got a [good] point there
- - That's my point [exactly]
- - That's [exactly] what I mean
- - That's a good point
- - Partially agreeing:
- - Yes, perhaps, however ...
- - Well, yes, but ...
- - Yes, in a way, however ...
- - Possibly, but ...
- - Yes, I agree up to a point, however ...
- - Well, you have a point there, but ...
- - I admit that..., however...
- - Yes, I suppose so, however ...
- - That's worth thinking about, but ...
- - Well, it depends [on]...
Disagreeing:
- - I don't believe/think so/that...
- - I don't agree/disagree.
- - [I'm afraid] I disagree/don't agree [with...]
- - Don't you think it would be better if...
- - I totally/completely/absolutely disagree
- - I beg to differ
- - I'd say the exact opposite
- - Not necessarily.
- - That's not always true/the case.
- - I'm not/I wouldn't be so sure about that.
- - Shouldn't we consider...
- - But, what about...
- - Let's face it, [the facts are undeniable/ the truth of the matter is...]
- - The problem with that is...
- - I am not so sure/certain [you're right there].
- - Do you really think/believe that...?
- - Well, I don't know about that.
- - Well, I'm not so sure about that.
- - I'm inclined to disagree with that idea.
- - No, I don't think so.
- - It's possible you are mistaken about that.
Interrupting:
- - Can I add something here?
- - May I interrupt for a second?
- - If I might add something...
- - Sorry to interrupt, but...
- - (after accidentally interrupting someone) Sorry, go ahead. OR Sorry, you were saying...
- - (after being interrupted) You didn't let me finish/ Please, let me finish.
- Useful Debate Vocabulary:
- - I’m listening to the other side.
- - I see your point, but I think
- - Yes, I understand, but my opinion is that
- - That’s all very interesting, but the problem is that…
- - I’m afraid I can’t quite agree with your point.
- - I think I’ve got your point, now let me respond to it.
- - We can see what you’re saying. Here’s my reply…
- - I need to say something now.
- - I’m sorry to interrupt, but you’ve misunderstood our point.
- - Excuse me, but that’s not quite correct.
- - Sorry, I just have to disagree with your point.
- - Let me just respond to that, please.
- - Forgive me for interrupting, but I must respond to that.
- - Hold on a moment, that’s not correct.
- - If you would allow me to add a comment here...
- - If you don’t mind, I’d like to take issue with what you just said.
- - You haven’t replied yet.
- - The other side will have to explain why.... otherwise we win that point.
- - We said that… but the other side has not replied to our point.
- - I’d like to focus on two points that the other side has failed to address.
- - There are two points that we have succeeded in establishing…
- - I want to call your attention to an important point that our opponents have not addressed yet.
- - I’d like to point out that there are two issues our opponents have failed to dispute, namely…
- - I must stress again that our point has not been refuted by the other side.
- - Well, I think that…
- - The first point I would like to raise is this…
- - Our position is the following…
- - Here’s the main point I want to raise…
- - I’d like to deal with two points here. The first is…
- - Our opponents have still not addressed the question we raised a moment ago…
- - The other side has failed to answer our point about…
- - Notice that the affirmative side has not addressed our main point.
- - Let me just restate my position.
- - Just to be clear, here is what I mean…
- - So finally, we…
- - To sum up, here are the main points our opponents have not addressed…
- - We pointed out that…
- - Our opponents have claimed that…
- - To recap the main points…
- - Let’s sum up where we stand in this debate.
- - Let me summarize our position in this debate.
- - In summary, we want to point out that…
- - Let’s see which arguments are still standing.
- - Let’s take stock of where we are in this debate.
Useful Debating Phrases
|
(1)
1st Proposition
opening,
definition, teamline, own arguments
|
(2)
1st Opposition
accepting
definition / redefinition, teamline, rebuttal of 1st Proposition,
own arguments
|
|
(3)
2nd Proposition
rebuttal of 1st Opp.,
rebuild own case, own arguments
|
(4)
2nd Opposition
rebuttal of 2nd
Prop., rebuild own case, own arguments
|
|
(5)
3rd Proposition
general rebuttal,
rebuild own case
|
(6)
3rd Opposition
general rebuttal,
rebuild own case
|
|
(7)
Opposition Reply (1st or 2nd speaker)
biased summary
|
(8)
Proposition Reply (1st or 2nd speaker)
biased summary
|
Opening the debate:
- · [some nice opening, e.g. quote]
- · Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to this debate.
- · Welcome from this side of the house...
- · The motion for debate today is: ...
- Defining the motion:
- · Now we as today' proposition/opposition strongly believe that this is true/not true, but before we come to our actual argumentation, let us first define some important terms in this debate.
- · We believe that what is meant by ... is ... / that ... are ...
- · When we say ... should ... we mean that ...
Presenting the teamline:
- · We as todays proposition/opposition have structured our case as follows:
- · I, as the first speaker, will be talking about ...
- · Our second speaker, ..., will elaborate on the fact that ...
- · And our third speaker, ..., will do the rebuttal.
- Rebutting arguments, rebuilding your case:
- · But before I come to my own arguments, let us first have a look at what ... has said.
- · I will continue our case in a minute, but before that there are some things about the ... speech that need to be addressed.
- · The first prop/opposition speaker has told us ...; on the contrary ...
- · He/She also said that ...; but in fact..
- · He/She was claiming that ...; but as
- · my first speaker already told you, ...
Introducing arguments:
- · Let me come to my first/second/.../next argument: [concise label of argument]
- · My first/... argument is:
- · The first/... reason why we're prop/opposing this motion is:
Explaining arguments:
- · [rather abstract explanation on how the argument should work] giving examples:
- · There are many examples for this/for ..., for instance.
- · In fact, you can find many examples for this in real life. Just think of...
- · And there are similar cases, such as ..., ...
- · So in this simple example we can clearly see the effect of ...
Summarizing & linking the
argument:
- · So as we have seen [argument label], and therefore [motion].
- · Now because of this ..., we have to support this motion.
Summarizing & ending your
speech:
- · So Ladies and Gentlemen, what have I told you today? Firstly ..., Secondly..
- · [some nice closing words]
- · And for all of these reasons, the motion must stand/fall.
Making/rejecting/accepting/answering
points of information:
- · Point of information, Sir/Madam.
- · On that point.
- · Wouldn't you have to agree ...? / Doesn't what you're saying contradict with ...? / What about the ...? / How would you explain, that ... ?
- · No, thank you, Sir/Madam.
- · Declined.
- · Yes, please. / Go ahead.
- · Thank you very much, Sir/Madam, I'm going to come to this very point. in my second argument in a minute [this is an emergency break]
Giving reply speeches:
- · Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome for the last time from today's prop/opposition. It is now my pleasure to summarize this debate, take a look at what both sides have said and see what the outcome of this debate actually is.
- · A first/second/... major clash was: ..
- · Today's prop/opposition told us ...; we had to find ...
- · [some particularly nice closing words]
- · And for all these reasons, I beg you to prop/oppose.
Debating – Useful Expressions
1. to order a sequence of arguments
o
firstly - secondly - finally
o to
begin/start with - next - lastly
o first
of all - and also
o let
me begin by pointing out - and besides
o in
addition to this
o furthermore
/ moreover
o Essentially,
the problem is ...
o to
top it all
o basically
o besides
o above
all
o
what is more
2. to express one's personal opinion
o
In my opinion / view …
o To
my mind …
o It
seems to me that … (> tentative)
o I
feel / think / believe that … (> neutral)
o I
have the feeling / the impression that …
o As I
see it, …
o I
rather think that …
o I am
sure that …
o I am
convinced that …(> strong)
o
certainly / surely / possibly
3. to state something as a fact
o
There can be no doubt that …
o It
is a fact that …
o Everyone
knows that …
o
indeed / actually
4. to be evasive
o I'm
afraid I can't give you a definitive answer at present.
o Sorry
to sound evasive, but there is no straightforward answer to that.
o I'd
need more information to answer your question.
5. to express and qualify one's
argument
o That
is a very important point.
o I
couldn't agree more.
o That
seems reasonable.
o admittedly
/ admitting this
o This
can only / not be accepted if / on condition that / in case / unless …
6. complete agreement
o I
agree.
o I
agree completely / entirely.
o I
think you're quite right.
o I
think so, too.
o I
don't think so, either.
o That's
exactly what I think.
o That's
just what I was thinking.
o Yes,
definitively.
o That's
right.
7. qualified agreement
o
maybe / perhaps (not)
o I
see your point.
o That
seems reasonable.
o To a
certain degree …
o
Yes, up to a point …
8. to express one's disagreement or
doubt
o
I don't quite agree here.
o I
cannot accept your view that …
o
I cannot share this view.
9. qualified or polite disagreement
o
That seems obvious.
o Do
you really think so?
o I
wouldn't say so.
o I
don't know.
o I'm
not quite so sure.
o although
o nevertheless
/ still
o even
so
o yet
o
however
10. definite disagreement
o
I don't think so.
o I
don't agree with you.
o I
can't agree, I'm afraid.
o That's
not how I see it.
o I
disagree (completely).
o
I don't agree at all.
11. to discuss the pros and cons
o
on the one hand - on the other hand
o There
are two sides to this question: …
o An
argument for this would be …
- Others
against it are …
o Some
people think … - Others say …
o however
o yet
o
but
12. to summarize one's arguments
o
To conclude…
o In
conclusion…
o It
follows from this that…
o To
sum up…
o so
o
therefore
13. making suggestions and
recommendations
o
I'd like to hear your ideas on this. It
might be a good idea to …
o Any
suggestions? I think we should …
o
Do any of you have any suggestions?
Have you thought of ... +gerund / noun
o
What do you recommend / suggest? I see
no alternative but to …
14. to give
reasons
o
The reason for this is that …
o There
is no reason why …
o because
o since
o
as
15. to interrupt someone
o
If I could just make a point here.
o Sorry
to interrupt, but I'd just like to say that …
o
Could I make a suggestion?
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