Introducing a topic / a
general idea:
As a general rule* In most cases * Most of the time *
For the great majority of people *It is customary to say that * People usually
say that *It is generally agreed/thought/believed that… *
One cannot deny that * No one can deny that * It is a
well-known fact that * There is no doubt * Beyond (a shadow of) a doubt* Beyond
questionable doubt * It goes without saying * No one questions the fact that *
X raises an important/a fundamental issue/question *This
leads us to wonder whether…* We may wonder whether…* Opinions are divided on
that question * It is a (highly) controversial issue* There has been much
controversy over/about * A number of key issues arise * Like it or dump it *
like it or curse it…
Stating an argument / a
problem
First of all, as regards the question of... *At first
sight/glance, it would seem that… *
The first question that arises is… * there arises a
difficult question/problem…
The first thing that needs to be said/must be said is
that… * First of all, let us look/have a look at… * let us begin with… * To
start with…
Introducing a viewpoint / a different aspect
As for the question of … *There is a second argument
which cannot be ignored… * There is also a bright side to the problem… * The
other side of the coin, however, is that… * Paradoxically though/as it may
seem… * The very opposite may well be true… * Another way of looking at this
question is… * Actually/Indeed/In fact/As a matter of fact, it would be more
accurate to say… *It must/should be recognized/acknowledged that… * The truth
is that… * However,/Nevertheless,/Nonetheless,/Yet,/Though,/Still,/All the same,
* In spite of/despite (the fact that)…
Concluding / Summarizing
In conclusion,* As a conclusion,* To conclude,* One
can conclude that / We can come to the conclusion that… * Last but not least… *
All things considered,…* For all these reasons… * All this goes to prove/show
that…
In other words,… * In a word,… * In short,… * In brief,…
* On the whole,… * All in all,… * To sum up,… * In sum,… * (To put it) in a
nutshell…
Organizing
ideas
Several factors/reasons/arguments can be mentioned/put
forward… * To begin with,… * First(ly) * First of all,* In the first place,*
First and foremost,… * On the one hand,… on the other hand,… * Second(ly),* In
the second place,*Then,* Next,… * Another pointis that… * Another thing is
that… * Finally,* Eventually,* In the
end,…
Adding an idea
Moreover,* In addition (to that),* What is more,*
Furthermore,* Added to that,* Besides,… By the way * Incidentally,…* Similarly,*
Likewise,… * … as well as … * … not only … but also… * We may as well mention
(the fact) that… * it is (well) worth mentioning (the fact) that… / We must
also remember that… * It should also be remembered that…
Introducing another idea / point of view
As for * As regards
* As concerns... * Regarding * concerning… *As far as … is concerned… *
According to…
Giving examples
For instance,* For example,* Namely* That is to say *
such as… * One example is enough to show/prove that…
In particular *Particularly* let us consider/take the
example/case of…
To take another example * let us take another example…
Highlighting an argument
Actually, * In fact, *As a matter of fact, * Indeed, …
* Above all * Basically…
It should be stressed that * There can be no doubt
that *Undoubtedly…
It goes without saying that * It is obvious (to
everyone) that… * There is no denying that…
What is quite certain is that… * As everyone knows *
It must/should be remembered that…
We must not forget that* By no means *We should
bear/keep in mind that… / It is worth mentioning that… * One has to emphasize
the fact that… * It is (quite) true that… / This doesn’t mean that… but rather
that… * I would even go as far as to say…
It must be admitted/recognized that… * One has to
admit/acknowledge that…
Moderating an argument
It remains to be proved… *On second thoughts… * There
is a distinction to be made between… and… * We must make a distinction between…
and… * One could argue that… * Strange as it may seem... * Strangely/Oddly… * I
wonder whether/if… * What I do not/cannot understand is... * What
puzzles/troubles me is that…
Comparing
By comparison (with)… * Compared to… * in comparison
(with/to)… * When compared with… * As * As if * As though *Unlike…
Giving one’s opinion
I feel/think/believe/guess/suppose (that)… * In my
opinion/view * To my mind * From my point of view * as for me * For my part *
As I see it * The way I see it * as far as I am concerned * personally, I
think… * I have the feeling that… * It seems to me that… * What I would like to
point out is that… * It’s my opinion/view/impression that… * I’m convinced
that… * I dare say * My view is that * I am of the opinion that… * What I think
is that… * I cannot help thinking that… * I am well aware/conscious that… * It
is no exaggeration to say that… * it looks/seems as if/though…
Expressing agreement
I (quite) agree with... on (that point) … * One must
acknowledge/admit that… * X is absolutely right in saying/when he/she says
that… * Nothing could be more true than… * I certainly go along with this… * It
is true to say that… * What strikes me as remarkable about… is that… * What I
find remarkable (about…) is that… * Whether we approve of it or not /Whether we
agree or not, we cannot deny that… * This makes us fully aware (of the fact)
that…
Expressing disagreement
I (strongly) disagree with… on (that point)… * I do
not agree with… * It would be wrong to say that… * I do not see it that way… *
I cannot share this point of view/these views… * I m not convinced at all by
this argument… * These arguments are worthless… * Unlike…, I think that… *
Contrary to…, I feel that… * On the contrary, … * It is quite the contrary… *
This is (quite) far from the truth… * We cannot/must not ignore/overlook/fail
to see several other aspects/sides of the problem… * We must not/ cannot
overlook the fact that… * What worries me is that… * This is
nonsense/ridiculous/far-fetched * X goes too far… * X exaggerates a lot… * X
distorts the facts/truth…
