Making Opinions Stronger & Weaker

Making opinions stronger and weaker

Add or change words on each line below to make both stronger and weaker versions, e.g. stronger disagreement and weaker disagreement if it is a disagreeing phrase.

Stronger		Weaker
	I agree.   I don’t agree.   I feel the same way.   I have the same opinion.   I think you’d agree that…   I’ve changed my mind.   In my limited experience,…   In my opinion,…   Many people would agree with you.   The majority of experts agree with me that…   That doesn’t make sense.   That makes sense.   That sounds good in theory, but…   That’s not true.   There is truth in what you are saying, but…   We are in agreement.   You haven’t convinced me.   You know more about this than me, but…   You’re right.   I can see where you are coming from.

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Suggested answers

The answers are arranged: Starting phrase – Stronger (/Stronger/ Stronger) – Weaker (/Weaker/ Weaker)

I agree. – I wholeheartedly agree. – I agree up to a point./ I partly agree./ I think I agree.

I don’t agree. – I really don’t agree./ I can’t agree. – I don’t really agree./ I don’t think I agree.

I feel the same way. – I feel exactly the same way. – I feel more or less the same way.

I have the same opinion. – I have exactly the same opinion. – I have a similar opinion.

I think you’d agree that… – I’m sure you’d agree that… – I imagine you’d agree that…

I’ve changed my mind. – I’ve completely changed my mind. – (I think) I’m changing my mind./ (I think) I’m starting to change my mind./ I seem to be changing my mind./ I’ve almost changed my mind.

In my limited experience,… – In my very limited experience,… – In my somewhat limited experience,…

In my opinion,… – In my honest opinion,… – In my humble opinion,…/ This is just my opinion, but…

Many people would agree with you. – Most people would agree with you. – Some people would agree with you.

The majority of experts agree with me that… – The vast majority of experts agree with me that… – Most experts agree with me that…

That doesn’t make sense. – That (really) doesn’t make any sense (at all)./ That’s (complete) (and utter) nonsense. – That doesn’t (really) make much sense.

That makes sense. – That makes complete sense. – That almost makes sense./ That seems to make sense.

That sounds good in theory, but… – That sounds perfect in theory, but… – That sounds okay in theory, but…

That’s not true. – That’s simply not true. – That’s not really true.

There is truth in what you are saying, but… – There is a lot of truth in what you are saying, but… – There is a (little) nugget of truth in what you are saying, but…

We are in agreement. – We are in complete agreement. – We seem to be in agreement. / We are in agreement on most points.

You haven’t convinced me. – I’m completely unconvinced./ You’re never going to convince me. – You haven’t convinced me yet.

You know more about this than me, but… – You obviously know a lot more about this than me, but… – You seem to know (a bit) more about this than me, but…

You’re right. – I’m sure you’re right./ You’re absolutely right. – You could be right./ That sounds right./ I suppose you’re right./ I guess you’re right.

I can see where you are coming from. – I can see exactly where you are coming from. – I can kind of see where you are coming from./ I think I can see where you’re coming from.

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Strong and weak opinions about sports speaking

Your partner will ask you a Yes/ No opinions question about one of the sports-related topics below, e.g. “Do you think something should be done to make the smaller teams more competitive?” for the first topic.

As you answer the question, secretly write a number between minus five (very strongly disagree with the idea) and plus five (very strongly agree with the idea) to represent how strongly you hold that opinion. Your partner will listen to you and also secretly write down a number showing how strong they think your opinion is from what you say. When you finish speaking, compare the numbers you have written to see how well you expressed yourself. If your partner’s idea of the strength of your feelings was wrong, ask them why they thought it was that number.

• Biggest teams too big?
• Competitive sport good for personality?
• Complete equality in sports for women?
• Dangerous sports be controlled/ banned?
• Dietary supplements for sport?
• Ending drugs in sports?
• Lifestyle outside sport important?
• Looks important in sports?
• Government make people fitter?
• Government money for sportsmen?
• Gyms worth the money?
• Local government money for local sports teams?
• More sports in schools?
• Olympic medals important?
• Olympics make people do sport?
• Olympics promote international understanding?
• People do enough exercise?
• Pressure from parents?
• Watching sports too expensive?
• Stop the decline in sports participation?
• Reduce sports salaries?
• Referees biased?
• Sportsmen role models?
• Sportsmen’s right to privacy from the press?
• Support traditional sports?
• Too young for professional sport?
• Unacceptable Olympic sponsors?