Useful Expressions for Discussions in English

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Expressions for Discussions! The following lesson provides many useful phrases and expressions for discussions and conversations in English with ESL images.

Expressions for Discussions

Introducing the Topic

• Today we are here to discuss…
• The goal of our discussion today is…

Bringing in Other People

• What is your opinion, Mr. Ito?
• Do you agree with Mr. Ito’s opinion, Ms. Suzuki?
• Mr. Ito, what do you think we should do?
• Mr. Ito, what are your views regarding this point?

Keeping the Discussion Moving

• Let’s go on to another point.
• Next, let’s talk about…
• Let’s talk about that later.

Giving an opinion

• In my opinion…
• As far as I’m concerned…
• Personally, I believe that…
• The way I see it is…

Getting Further Information

• Would you mind explaining that a little more, please?
• Could you explain that more fully?
• Could you tell us a bit more about that?

Restating An Idea

• In other words,
• That is, …
• What I’m trying to say is…
• I mean…
• To put it another way…

Persuading Convincing

• You must admit that…
• Don’t forget that…
• You must remember that…

Inquiring about Agreement or Disagreement

• Do/don’t you agree, Ms. Suzuki?
• Wouldn’t you agree, Mr. Ito?

Expressing Agreement

• Yes, that is right/correct.
• You are right/correct.
• I definitely agree with Ms. Suzuki.
• That is exactly what I think.

Expressing Disagreement

• I don’t really agree with him/her.
• I’m afraid I can’t agree with his/her opinion.
• That’s not quite how I see it.
• I can see your point, but I don’t really agree with it.

Expressing doubt or reservation

• Well, maybe, but I’m not sure about that.
• Hmm, he may be correct but I’m not sure.
• I can see your point, but I’m not sure I agree.

Refuting a fact

• Actually,
• As a matter of fact, …
• Well, I’m not sure that is true/correct because…

Dismissing an irrelevant point

• I’m afraid you’re missing the point.
• I don’t think that has anything do with the goal of our discussion.

Making suggestions

• Why don’t we/you…
• How about…
• I suggest that we/you…

Agreeing with a suggestion

• Ok. That makes sense.
• Of course.
• Certainly

Refusing a suggestion or request

• I’m sorry but that is out of the question
• Unfortunately that is not possible.

Capitulation

• Mr. Suzuki has convinced me that my opinion/suggestion/idea is not useful/practical/necessary/good. Therefore, I have changed my mind.
• OK. You have persuaded me to change my mind. I can agree with you. 

Expressing similarities

• Those two points/suggestions are similar.
• Mr. Suzuki’s idea is about the same as Ms. Ito’s.
• My idea/suggestion is (more)….er than mine/hers.

Interrupting

• Excuse me for interrupting, but…
• Sorry to interrupt, but…

Getting a point into the discussion

• I have a point I’d like to make.
• I’d like to add something here.
• I’d like to say something about your/her/his idea.

Seeking clarification

• What do you mean?
• Sorry, I’m not quite sure what you mean.
• Do you mean that…?
• I’m sorry, I don’t quite follow.
• I don’t quite understand what you’re saying.

Paraphrasing another person’s idea

• What Ms. Ito means is that…
• What (s)he is trying to say is that…

Requesting

• Ms. Ito, I wonder if you would mind…………….., please?
• Mr. Kato, do you think you could……………, please?

Making comparisons

• Mr. Ito’s explanation is more/less…………than hers/his.
• Your opinion/idea is………….-er than mine/hers.

Expressing Preference

• I think the best/worst suggestion is …
• His idea is the…………-est  (best, most reasonable etc.)
• Her proposal is the most/least…
• One of the most practical items is……………, so we/you should definitely take/use it.

Closing the Discussion

• In conclusion, the purpose of this discussion…
• The goal of our discussion is to….
• We have concluded that…

    Introducing a point

• First of all I’d like to point out …
• The main problem is …
• The question of …
• Speaking of …
• What we have to decide is …

    Enumeration of points

• First of all, I’d like to say …
• In addition to that …
• Moreover, …
• Furthermore, …
• Another example of this is …
• First, second, third …
• Finally, …

   Stating something as a fact

• As everyone knows …
• It is generally accepted that …
• There can be no doubt that …
• It is a fact that …
• Nobody will deny that …
• Everyone knows that …

   Expressing a personal opinion

• It seems to me that …
• I have the feeling that …
• I feel that …
• I’m absolutely convinced that …
• You can take it from me that …
• I think/don’t think that …
• In my opinion, …
• Well, if you ask me …
• As I see it …
• The way I see it, …
• Personally, I believe/sup­pose/ feel (that) …
• I’m convinced that …

   Expressing pros and cons

• There are two sides to the question.
• On the one hand …, on the other hand …
• An argument for/in favour of/against is …
• While admitting that … one should not forget that …
• Some people think that …, others say that …

   Expressing doubt

• I’m not sure if …
• I’m not convinced that …
• I wonder if you realize that …
• I doubt that.

   Expressing disagreement

• I don’t agree with you about …
• I can’t accept your view that …

   Expressing support

• You’re quite right.
• That’s a very important point.
• You’ve got a good point there.
• I couldn’t agree with you more.
• You took the words right out of my mouth.

   Giving reasons

• The reason for this is (that) …
• I base my argument on …
• I tell you all this because …

   Keeping to the point

• It would be more to the point if …
• Come to the point.
• That’s not the problem.
• What we are discussing is …
• … has nothing to do with my argument.
• That’s not relevant.

    Drawing conclusions and sum­ming up

• The obvious conclusion is …
• Last but not least …
• The only alternative (left) is …
• The only possible solution/con­clusion is …
• Summing up, I’d like to say that …
• In conclusion, we can say that …
• To cut a long story short, …
• Just to give you the main points again, …

Expressions for Discussions | Image