phrases for opinion writing

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65 Useful Phrases for Expressing Opinions in English

You have lots of wonderful opinions, but you don’t know how to say them?

That’s got to change. After all, an opinion is a personal belief based on your thoughts, feelings and experiences. It’s your individual perspective—your unique view of the world. Because of this, stating your opinion is an important skill to have in English.

In this post, I’m going to teach you exactly how to express your opinion, make your opinion stronger, explain your opinion, conclude your opinion and lastly, ask someone else about their opinion. And I’ll include a list of useful English phrases to use to accomplish these goals.

Phrases for Expressing Your Opinion

Making your statement stronger, phrases for agreeing with someone’s opinion, phrases for disagreeing with someone’s opinion, phrases for explaining your opinion, phrases for concluding your opinion, asking for someone’s opinion, tips for expressing your opinion in english, and one more thing....

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Expressing your opinion is important, especially with friends and colleagues. To do so easily, check out this list of functional phrases:

• In my opinion…
• From my perspective…
• Personally, I believe…
• I feel that…
• It seems to me that…
• I am of the view that…
• As far as I’m concerned…
• I’m inclined to think that…
• If you ask me…
• I hold the opinion that…
• It’s my belief that…

This phrase is slightly formal and is used more in writing or debating.

• I have a strong feeling that…
• It’s clear to me that…
• In my experience…
• It’s my contention that…

This is formal and is usually reserved for professional settings.

• I am convinced that…

This phrase is good for expressing a very long held belief.

• I think that…
• My take on this is…
• In my eyes…
• I’m of the mind that…
• I think…
• I feel like…

This is a good casual phrase to use with friends and family.

• I believe that…

This phrase can be used for larger opinions, say, your feelings on marriage or some other big issue.

• What I mean is…

This is a good phrase to use to clarify your opinion further.

You can make your opinion statement stronger by adding adverbs such as: really, truly, strongly, absolutely, completely, utterly, totally, unquestionably, certainly, fully, unarguably and decidedly.

Here are a couple of examples:

• I truly believe that the American Dream is at risk.
• I feel strongly that all men deserve universal healthcare.
• I really like this movie.

Sometimes, two or more people have the same opinion. In such cases, this is how you express your agreement with them.

• Yes, definitely!
• I feel the same way.
• I agree with you.
• That’s a very valid point.
• I think what you said is true.
• You’re right!

There may be situations when you disagree with someone on certain topics.

That’s when you have to politely express your disagreement while avoiding an argument or fight.

You have to make the listener realize that while you heard and understood what they said, you don’t agree and have a different opinion.

• I understand.
• I see your point.
• That makes sense.
• I couldn’t agree more.
• You’ve got a good point there.
• I’m on the same page as you.
• Let’s agree to disagree, shall we?

This last funny phrase means that you feel that you and the person you’re talking to are never going to agree on this issue, so you decide to move on to another subject. You’re agreeing that you disagree on the issue. It’s a good phrase to use to avoid an argument.

In several situations, such as in meetings and group discussions, we’re asked to explain our opinions. There are many ways of doing this.

• My reasons are…
• Firstly… secondly… thirdly…

We can simply state or list our reasons (firstly, secondly, thirdly) in a certain way, like in this example:

Firstly , horror movies are scary. Secondly , I don’t believe in ghosts. Thirdly , I can’t sleep after watching scary movies!

• Moreover…
• In addition to…
• Most importantly…
• Another example is…
• Mostly because…

You can also use conjunctions (such as because) or other connecting words and phrases to explain thoughts in a logical manner.

After you’ve stated an opinion, you may want to conclude the topic.

You can do that using these phrases:

• In conclusion…
• From this, we can conclude…
• To sum up…
• This proves that…
• What do you think?

Asking a question is a great way to wrap up your own argument.

• That is why…
• Can you suggest an alternative?

It’s important to ask others’ opinions, too.

You can use these handy phrases to easily do that:

• What do you think about…?
• How do you feel about…?
• What is your opinion on…?
• In your view, is…?
• What are your thoughts on…?
• Could you share your perspective on…?
• Do you have any views on…?
• What is your take on…?
• Would you mind telling me your opinion about…?
• What is your stance on…?
• Can you give me your impression of…?
• What do you believe about…?
• Are you of the opinion that…?
• Do you think that…?
• How would you evaluate…?

Before diving into common phrases, here are some tips that’ll help you express your opinion in English as well as improve your speaking and writing skills .

• Keep a diary to talk about your feelings/opinions . Make it a point to write in your diary every day. You can write about what you did that day, your likes and dislikes or use specific prompts to give you ideas.
• Watch an English movie and write about it . You can talk about what you liked and disliked about the movie in your diary!
• Pick a topic and try talking about it . You can practice expressing your opinion by choosing a topic, setting a timer and speaking about it in front of the mirror. Notice your tone and body language. You can also have discussions or “debates” with your friends. A debate is two or more people agreeing or disagreeing with a topic. You can also find online language partners on apps like HelloTalk or Tandem .

Well, I hope that made the art of expressing your opinions in English much easier and clearer than before!

You can always follow the three-step guide and practice the common phrases we use when sharing our thoughts and beliefs.

Of course, you’ll make mistakes and that’s an important part of learning. So get some practice, be sincere and try your best. Before you know it, you’ll be a confident and fluent English speaker!

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• 40 Useful Words and Phrases for Top-Notch Essays

To be truly brilliant, an essay needs to utilise the right language. You could make a great point, but if it’s not intelligently articulated, you almost needn’t have bothered.

Developing the language skills to build an argument and to write persuasively is crucial if you’re to write outstanding essays every time. In this article, we’re going to equip you with the words and phrases you need to write a top-notch essay, along with examples of how to utilise them.

It’s by no means an exhaustive list, and there will often be other ways of using the words and phrases we describe that we won’t have room to include, but there should be more than enough below to help you make an instant improvement to your essay-writing skills.

If you’re interested in developing your language and persuasive skills, Oxford Royale offers summer courses at its Oxford Summer School , Cambridge Summer School , London Summer School , San Francisco Summer School and Yale Summer School . You can study courses to learn english , prepare for careers in law , medicine , business , engineering and leadership.

General explaining

Let’s start by looking at language for general explanations of complex points.

1. In order to

Usage: “In order to” can be used to introduce an explanation for the purpose of an argument. Example: “In order to understand X, we need first to understand Y.”

2. In other words

Usage: Use “in other words” when you want to express something in a different way (more simply), to make it easier to understand, or to emphasise or expand on a point. Example: “Frogs are amphibians. In other words, they live on the land and in the water.”

3. To put it another way

Usage: This phrase is another way of saying “in other words”, and can be used in particularly complex points, when you feel that an alternative way of wording a problem may help the reader achieve a better understanding of its significance. Example: “Plants rely on photosynthesis. To put it another way, they will die without the sun.”

4. That is to say

Usage: “That is” and “that is to say” can be used to add further detail to your explanation, or to be more precise. Example: “Whales are mammals. That is to say, they must breathe air.”

5. To that end

Usage: Use “to that end” or “to this end” in a similar way to “in order to” or “so”. Example: “Zoologists have long sought to understand how animals communicate with each other. To that end, a new study has been launched that looks at elephant sounds and their possible meanings.”

Adding additional information to support a point

Students often make the mistake of using synonyms of “and” each time they want to add further information in support of a point they’re making, or to build an argument . Here are some cleverer ways of doing this.

6. Moreover

Usage: Employ “moreover” at the start of a sentence to add extra information in support of a point you’re making. Example: “Moreover, the results of a recent piece of research provide compelling evidence in support of…”

7. Furthermore

Usage:This is also generally used at the start of a sentence, to add extra information. Example: “Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that…”

8. What’s more

Usage: This is used in the same way as “moreover” and “furthermore”. Example: “What’s more, this isn’t the only evidence that supports this hypothesis.”

9. Likewise

Usage: Use “likewise” when you want to talk about something that agrees with what you’ve just mentioned. Example: “Scholar A believes X. Likewise, Scholar B argues compellingly in favour of this point of view.”

10. Similarly

Usage: Use “similarly” in the same way as “likewise”. Example: “Audiences at the time reacted with shock to Beethoven’s new work, because it was very different to what they were used to. Similarly, we have a tendency to react with surprise to the unfamiliar.”

11. Another key thing to remember

Usage: Use the phrase “another key point to remember” or “another key fact to remember” to introduce additional facts without using the word “also”. Example: “As a Romantic, Blake was a proponent of a closer relationship between humans and nature. Another key point to remember is that Blake was writing during the Industrial Revolution, which had a major impact on the world around him.”

12. As well as

Usage: Use “as well as” instead of “also” or “and”. Example: “Scholar A argued that this was due to X, as well as Y.”

13. Not only… but also

Usage: This wording is used to add an extra piece of information, often something that’s in some way more surprising or unexpected than the first piece of information. Example: “Not only did Edmund Hillary have the honour of being the first to reach the summit of Everest, but he was also appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.”

14. Coupled with

Usage: Used when considering two or more arguments at a time. Example: “Coupled with the literary evidence, the statistics paint a compelling view of…”

15. Firstly, secondly, thirdly…

Usage: This can be used to structure an argument, presenting facts clearly one after the other. Example: “There are many points in support of this view. Firstly, X. Secondly, Y. And thirdly, Z.

16. Not to mention/to say nothing of

Usage: “Not to mention” and “to say nothing of” can be used to add extra information with a bit of emphasis. Example: “The war caused unprecedented suffering to millions of people, not to mention its impact on the country’s economy.”

Words and phrases for demonstrating contrast

When you’re developing an argument, you will often need to present contrasting or opposing opinions or evidence – “it could show this, but it could also show this”, or “X says this, but Y disagrees”. This section covers words you can use instead of the “but” in these examples, to make your writing sound more intelligent and interesting.

17. However

Usage: Use “however” to introduce a point that disagrees with what you’ve just said. Example: “Scholar A thinks this. However, Scholar B reached a different conclusion.”

18. On the other hand

Usage: Usage of this phrase includes introducing a contrasting interpretation of the same piece of evidence, a different piece of evidence that suggests something else, or an opposing opinion. Example: “The historical evidence appears to suggest a clear-cut situation. On the other hand, the archaeological evidence presents a somewhat less straightforward picture of what happened that day.”

19. Having said that

Usage: Used in a similar manner to “on the other hand” or “but”. Example: “The historians are unanimous in telling us X, an agreement that suggests that this version of events must be an accurate account. Having said that, the archaeology tells a different story.”

20. By contrast/in comparison

Usage: Use “by contrast” or “in comparison” when you’re comparing and contrasting pieces of evidence. Example: “Scholar A’s opinion, then, is based on insufficient evidence. By contrast, Scholar B’s opinion seems more plausible.”

21. Then again

Usage: Use this to cast doubt on an assertion. Example: “Writer A asserts that this was the reason for what happened. Then again, it’s possible that he was being paid to say this.”

22. That said

Usage: This is used in the same way as “then again”. Example: “The evidence ostensibly appears to point to this conclusion. That said, much of the evidence is unreliable at best.”

Usage: Use this when you want to introduce a contrasting idea. Example: “Much of scholarship has focused on this evidence. Yet not everyone agrees that this is the most important aspect of the situation.”

Adding a proviso or acknowledging reservations

Sometimes, you may need to acknowledge a shortfalling in a piece of evidence, or add a proviso. Here are some ways of doing so.

24. Despite this

Usage: Use “despite this” or “in spite of this” when you want to outline a point that stands regardless of a shortfalling in the evidence. Example: “The sample size was small, but the results were important despite this.”

25. With this in mind

Usage: Use this when you want your reader to consider a point in the knowledge of something else. Example: “We’ve seen that the methods used in the 19th century study did not always live up to the rigorous standards expected in scientific research today, which makes it difficult to draw definite conclusions. With this in mind, let’s look at a more recent study to see how the results compare.”

26. Provided that

Usage: This means “on condition that”. You can also say “providing that” or just “providing” to mean the same thing. Example: “We may use this as evidence to support our argument, provided that we bear in mind the limitations of the methods used to obtain it.”

27. In view of/in light of

Usage: These phrases are used when something has shed light on something else. Example: “In light of the evidence from the 2013 study, we have a better understanding of…”

28. Nonetheless

Usage: This is similar to “despite this”. Example: “The study had its limitations, but it was nonetheless groundbreaking for its day.”

29. Nevertheless

Usage: This is the same as “nonetheless”. Example: “The study was flawed, but it was important nevertheless.”

30. Notwithstanding

Usage: This is another way of saying “nonetheless”. Example: “Notwithstanding the limitations of the methodology used, it was an important study in the development of how we view the workings of the human mind.”

Giving examples

Good essays always back up points with examples, but it’s going to get boring if you use the expression “for example” every time. Here are a couple of other ways of saying the same thing.

31. For instance

Example: “Some birds migrate to avoid harsher winter climates. Swallows, for instance, leave the UK in early winter and fly south…”

32. To give an illustration

Example: “To give an illustration of what I mean, let’s look at the case of…”

Signifying importance

When you want to demonstrate that a point is particularly important, there are several ways of highlighting it as such.

33. Significantly

Usage: Used to introduce a point that is loaded with meaning that might not be immediately apparent. Example: “Significantly, Tacitus omits to tell us the kind of gossip prevalent in Suetonius’ accounts of the same period.”

34. Notably

Usage: This can be used to mean “significantly” (as above), and it can also be used interchangeably with “in particular” (the example below demonstrates the first of these ways of using it). Example: “Actual figures are notably absent from Scholar A’s analysis.”

35. Importantly

Usage: Use “importantly” interchangeably with “significantly”. Example: “Importantly, Scholar A was being employed by X when he wrote this work, and was presumably therefore under pressure to portray the situation more favourably than he perhaps might otherwise have done.”

Summarising

You’ve almost made it to the end of the essay, but your work isn’t over yet. You need to end by wrapping up everything you’ve talked about, showing that you’ve considered the arguments on both sides and reached the most likely conclusion. Here are some words and phrases to help you.

36. In conclusion

Usage: Typically used to introduce the concluding paragraph or sentence of an essay, summarising what you’ve discussed in a broad overview. Example: “In conclusion, the evidence points almost exclusively to Argument A.”

37. Above all

Usage: Used to signify what you believe to be the most significant point, and the main takeaway from the essay. Example: “Above all, it seems pertinent to remember that…”

38. Persuasive

Usage: This is a useful word to use when summarising which argument you find most convincing. Example: “Scholar A’s point – that Constanze Mozart was motivated by financial gain – seems to me to be the most persuasive argument for her actions following Mozart’s death.”

39. Compelling

Usage: Use in the same way as “persuasive” above. Example: “The most compelling argument is presented by Scholar A.”

40. All things considered

Usage: This means “taking everything into account”. Example: “All things considered, it seems reasonable to assume that…”

How many of these words and phrases will you get into your next essay? And are any of your favourite essay terms missing from our list? Let us know in the comments below, or get in touch here to find out more about courses that can help you with your essays.

At Oxford Royale Academy, we offer a number of  summer school courses for young people who are keen to improve their essay writing skills. Click here to apply for one of our courses today, including law , business , medicine  and engineering .

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10 English Phrases to Express Your Opinion in an Essay

This is a guest post by  Sam Pealing.  Make sure to visit his website EnglishForStudy.com for more academic English help!

I admire international students. Seriously.  If you’re a non-native English speaker doing a degree or doctorate in English, then I take my hat off to you.

I get a lot of questions about writing essays, and I’ve taught hundreds of students how to write effective essays (which get good grades).  One of the most common mistakes that I see is a lack of opinion.

Most of the time, students describe a situation, but they don’t give their opinion or stance. This can really damage your grade because lecturers are always looking for ‘critical thinking’. If you don’t give your opinion in your essays, your lecturers can’t see your critical thinking.

To put it simply: If you don’t put your opinion or stance in an essay, then you’ll probably lose marks.

In this article, you’ll learn 10 effective phrases that you can use to give your opinion in your essay.  I’ve also created a free lesson pack which will help you to practice the phrases in this article. CLICK HERE to download it.

Introducing the Phrases

If you’re looking for a quick fix for your essay, these phrases should help you to start putting your own opinions in your essays.

But, before you rush over to your essays to start putting these phrases in, there’s something you need to know.

If you’re writing an academic essay, you will need to support your opinions with strong evidence . This is especially true if you are using some of the stronger phrases.

This evidence can be a journal article, a lecture, a textbook, or something else which is a trustworthy source of information.

In a more informal essay, like one in an IELTS or TOEFL language test, you don’t need to support your answers with strong evidence. Your experiences or opinions will be enough.

Quick note : I know! You’re ready to see the phrases.

This won’t take long and it’s really important.

1. For these phrases to be really effective, you’ll need to review your grammar. Shayna has some great videos on her Espresso English Youtube channel .

I recommend these:

• Subject/Verb agreement
• Formal and Informal English
• Correcting Grammar Mistakes

2. If you want to know the structure of a good essay paragraph, check my post here .

Informal English Phrases

These phrases are suitable for language tests such as TOEFL or IELTS. In an academic essay, these phrases will probably be too informal because they are too personal.

“In my opinion, + [your sentence]”

• In my opinion , a good education is more important than a good car.

“I believe that + [your sentence]”

• I believe that schools should encourage students to walk or cycle to school rather than drive.

“In my mind, + [your sentence]”

• “ In my mind , no-one should have to pay for medical care.”

More Formal Academic Phrases With ‘That’

These phrases are more suitable for academic essays. If you are unsure whether you should use an informal phrase or an academic phrase, use an academic one. If you think your writing might be informal, read this post to learn more.

The patterns here are quite straightforward. Just add your sentence after ‘that’.

“It would seem that + [your sentence]”

Use this when you support your opinion with evidence.

• “ It would seem that children learn best when they are feeling comfortable.”

“It could be argued that + [your sentence]”

Use this when you want to challenge an existing opinion.

• “ It could be argued that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks in this situation.”

“This suggests that + [your sentence]”

Use this when you don’t want to fully commit to an opinion. You’re giving yourself some distance.

• “ The evidence suggests that people who speak more than one language have more job opportunities.”

“This proves that + [your sentence]”

Use this when you are confident with your opinion. This phrase is quite strong*

• “ This proves that the best way to lose weight is through a controlled diet and a good exercise program.”

“This supports the idea that + [your sentence]”

Use this one when you are supporting an opinion that you have already made.

• “ This new research supports the idea that successful English learners look for opportunities to use English.”

Other Ways to Express Opinion

“although [idea you disagree with], [idea you agree with]”.

Use this when you want make your opinion seem balanced.

• “ Although reports suggest that cigarettes could help people to lose weight, there are too many serious health problems associated with smoking.”

Note: The ‘ although’ pattern is very effective because it shows two sides of the argument. In the example, I support the idea that smoking is bad for your health –BUT- I recognise that it could have some benefits.

Structure your ‘ although’ sentence like this: Although, [weaker argument you disagree with], [stronger argument you agree with].

Using Adverbs, Adjectives and Nouns

You can use adjectives to show your opinion.

• “This research was poorly conducted with a lack of control .”

The adjective and nouns in the example are negative . You can get some good ideas from this video on Extreme Adjectives . Note: try not to use any emotional adjectives .

Make Your Own Phrases!

Of course, these phrases aren’t the only ones that you can use! You can find more – or – you can create your own by combining different patterns.

Here’s an example of #7, #9 and #10 used together.

“Although it is difficult for older adults to learn a second language, an important study by Smith (2014) proved that the elderly can successfully learn new languages.”

What Should You Do Now?

So now you should have a better idea of how to include more opinions in your essays. But that’s not all; there are probably some new words here that you don’t know.

So here’s what you should do:

• Choose three of the opinion expressions and phrases that you want to try.
• Practice writing sentences using them (if you don’t have a topic, try this: should students do homework? You can see examples of this in the lesson pack )
• Get the Lesson Pack for this lesson (which contains the vocabulary and the phrases from this lesson) CLICK HERE to download it .

Learn more:

• Basic English phrases
• Intermediate English phrases
• Advanced English phrases

About Sam Pealing

Sam Pealing is an English language coach who specialises in two important areas: 1. helping you to get great grades at university, and 2. helping you to become an effective and confident English user. If you’re feeling frustrated or confused with English, Sam has created the perfect email course for you! You can join his course here –or- you can read more by him on English For Study .

Get corrections on your written English:

More Espresso English Lessons:

About the author.

Shayna Oliveira

Shayna Oliveira is the founder of Espresso English, where you can improve your English fast - even if you don’t have much time to study. Millions of students are learning English from her clear, friendly, and practical lessons! Shayna is a CELTA-certified teacher with 10+ years of experience helping English learners become more fluent in her English courses.

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Useful Vocabulary For An Opinion Essay: Top 40 Words And Phrases

Good word choice is a key ingredient of great essay writing. One should constantly work to expand and improve vocabulary so that ideas are more clearly expressed. Here are the top 40 words and phrases you should know to write great opinion essays:

• “All things considered” – This is another way of simply saying “taking everything into account.”
• “Persuasive” – This is a great term to use when you are providing a summary for the argument you found the most convincing in your writing.
• “Above all” – Use this when you want to signify what is most important and what you wish to be the main takeaway from the writing.
• “Importantly” – Use this word to introduce a loaded point with meaning that might not be easily known to the reader.
• “Significantly” – This is used in the same way as “importantly” is described above.
• “For instance” – This phrase is used when you want to include an example to clarify a point you have just made.
• “Nevertheless” – This is used in the exact same way you would use the word “nonetheless.”
• “Provided that” – This is used when you want to say something along the lines of “on the condition that.”
• “Despite this” – This is most effectively used when you want to outline a point that stands even if there isn’t enough supporting evidence.
• “That said” – Use this phrase when you need to cast some doubt on a point you’ve just made.
• “In comparison/By contrast” – Either one of these phrases can be used when you are contrasting two or more pieces of evidence.
• “On the other hand” – Use this appropriately to introduce a contrasting or opposing interpretation of the same piece of information or evidence.
• “To say nothing of/Not to mention” – Use either one of these to add more information with some emphasis.
• “Coupled with” – Use this phrase when you need to consider to or more arguments at the same time to express your idea.
• “As well as” – This phrase can be used instead of words like “also” or “and” for variety.
• “Similarly” – Use this word in the same way as “likewise” when you want to discuss something that is in agreement with what you have just mentioned.
• “What’s more” – This phrase is used as an alternative to “furthermore” or “moreover.”
• “Moreover” – This word can be used at the beginning of a sentence to add more supporting information to the point you are trying to make.
• “That is to say” – This can be used when you need to be more precise or add further detail to an explanation.
• “In other words” – Use this phrase if you need to simply something by explaining it in another way.
• “Compelling” – This is usually used in the same way as “persuasive” as explained above.
• “In conclusion” – This is usually used to introduce the concluding paragraph of an opinion or any other type of essay.
• “Notably” – This is another way of saying “significantly” as explained above.
• “To give illustration” – Use this when you are about to give an example to clarify a statement made prior.
• “Notwithstanding” – This word can be used in a similar fashion as the phrase “despite this.”
• “Nonetheless” – Use this the same way as “notwithstanding.”
• “In light of/In view of” –You can use either one of these phrases when something written has shed some light on another idea.
• “With this in mind” – Use this phrase whenever you want the reader to consider an argument within the knowledge of something else.
• “Yet” – This word should be used whenever you need to introduce a contrasting idea to one that was made prior.
• “Then again” – This is used in exactly the same way you would use “that said.”
• “Having said that” – This phrase is used in the same way as one would write “but” or “on the other hand.”
• “However” – This word is used to bring up a point that is in complete disagreement with what you’ve just mentioned.
• “Firstly, secondly, thirdly” – These words can be used to appropriately structure an argument logically and sequentially.
• “Not only… but also” – these words can be used to bring up an additional bit of information that is usually more surprising than the first.
• “Another key thing to remember” – This can be used in a similar way as the word “also” to bring up additional facts.
• “Likewise” – this word can be used when you are presenting something that is in agreement with what you have just mentioned.
• “Furthermore” – this word can generally be used at the start of a sentence to introduce or add extra information.
• “To that end” – this phrase can used to introduce an explanation behind an argument, similar to “in order to.”
• “To put it another way” – this is similar to the phrase “in other words” and is used to explain complex ideas.
• “In order to” – this phrase can be used to introduce an explanation behind the reason for an argument.

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• Transition Words & Phrases | List & Examples

Transition Words & Phrases | List & Examples

Published on May 29, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 23, 2023.

Transition words and phrases (also called linking words, connecting words, or transitional words) are used to link together different ideas in your text. They help the reader to follow your arguments by expressing the relationships between different sentences or parts of a sentence.

The proposed solution to the problem did not work. Therefore , we attempted a second solution. However , this solution was also unsuccessful.

For clear writing, it’s essential to understand the meaning of transition words and use them correctly.

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Table of contents

When and how to use transition words, types and examples of transition words, common mistakes with transition words, other interesting articles.

Transition words commonly appear at the start of a new sentence or clause (followed by a comma ), serving to express how this clause relates to the previous one.

Transition words can also appear in the middle of a clause. It’s important to place them correctly to convey the meaning you intend.

Example text with and without transition words

The text below describes all the events it needs to, but it does not use any transition words to connect them. Because of this, it’s not clear exactly how these different events are related or what point the author is making by telling us about them.

If we add some transition words at appropriate moments, the text reads more smoothly and the relationship among the events described becomes clearer.

Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Consequently , France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. The Soviet Union initially worked with Germany in order to partition Poland. However , Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.

Don’t overuse transition words

While transition words are essential to clear writing, it’s possible to use too many of them. Consider the following example, in which the overuse of linking words slows down the text and makes it feel repetitive.

In this case the best way to fix the problem is to simplify the text so that fewer linking words are needed.

The key to using transition words effectively is striking the right balance. It is difficult to follow the logic of a text with no transition words, but a text where every sentence begins with a transition word can feel over-explained.

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There are four main types of transition word: additive, adversative, causal, and sequential. Within each category, words are divided into several more specific functions.

Remember that transition words with similar meanings are not necessarily interchangeable. It’s important to understand the meaning of all the transition words you use. If unsure, consult a dictionary to find the precise definition.

Additive transition words

Additive transition words introduce new information or examples. They can be used to expand upon, compare with, or clarify the preceding text.

Adversative transition words

Adversative transition words always signal a contrast of some kind. They can be used to introduce information that disagrees or contrasts with the preceding text.

Causal transition words

Causal transition words are used to describe cause and effect. They can be used to express purpose, consequence, and condition.

Sequential transition words

Sequential transition words indicate a sequence, whether it’s the order in which events occurred chronologically or the order you’re presenting them in your text. They can be used for signposting in academic texts.

Transition words are often used incorrectly. Make sure you understand the proper usage of transition words and phrases, and remember that words with similar meanings don’t necessarily work the same way grammatically.

Misused transition words can make your writing unclear or illogical. Your audience will be easily lost if you misrepresent the connections between your sentences and ideas.

Confused use of therefore

“Therefore” and similar cause-and-effect words are used to state that something is the result of, or follows logically from, the previous. Make sure not to use these words in a way that implies illogical connections.

• We asked participants to rate their satisfaction with their work from 1 to 10. Therefore , the average satisfaction among participants was 7.5.

The use of “therefore” in this example is illogical: it suggests that the result of 7.5 follows logically from the question being asked, when in fact many other results were possible. To fix this, we simply remove the word “therefore.”

• We asked participants to rate their satisfaction with their work from 1 to 10. The average satisfaction among participants was 7.5.

Starting a sentence with also , and , or so

While the words “also,” “and,” and “so” are used in academic writing, they are considered too informal when used at the start of a sentence.

• Also , a second round of testing was carried out.

To fix this issue, we can either move the transition word to a different point in the sentence or use a more formal alternative.

• A second round of testing was also carried out.
• Additionally , a second round of testing was carried out.

Transition words creating sentence fragments

Words like “although” and “because” are called subordinating conjunctions . This means that they introduce clauses which cannot stand on their own. A clause introduced by one of these words should always follow or be followed by another clause in the same sentence.

The second sentence in this example is a fragment, because it consists only of the “although” clause.

• Smith (2015) argues that the period should be reassessed. Although other researchers disagree.

We can fix this in two different ways. One option is to combine the two sentences into one using a comma. The other option is to use a different transition word that does not create this problem, like “however.”

• Smith (2015) argues that the period should be reassessed, although other researchers disagree.
• Smith (2015) argues that the period should be reassessed. However , other researchers disagree.

And vs. as well as

Students often use the phrase “ as well as ” in place of “and,” but its usage is slightly different. Using “and” suggests that the things you’re listing are of equal importance, while “as well as” introduces additional information that is less important.

• Chapter 1 discusses some background information on Woolf, as well as presenting my analysis of To the Lighthouse .

In this example, the analysis is more important than the background information. To fix this mistake, we can use “and,” or we can change the order of the sentence so that the most important information comes first. Note that we add a comma before “as well as” but not before “and.”

• Chapter 1 discusses some background information on Woolf and presents my analysis of To the Lighthouse .
• Chapter 1 presents my analysis of To the Lighthouse , as well as discussing some background information on Woolf.

Note that in fixed phrases like “both x and y ,” you must use “and,” not “as well as.”

• Both my results as well as my interpretations are presented below.
• Both my results and my interpretations are presented below.

Use of and/or

The combination of transition words “and/or” should generally be avoided in academic writing. It makes your text look messy and is usually unnecessary to your meaning.

First consider whether you really do mean “and/or” and not just “and” or “or.” If you are certain that you need both, it’s best to separate them to make your meaning as clear as possible.

• Participants were asked whether they used the bus and/or the train.
• Participants were asked whether they used the bus, the train, or both.

Archaic transition words

Words like “hereby,” “therewith,” and most others formed by the combination of “here,” “there,” or “where” with a preposition are typically avoided in modern academic writing. Using them makes your writing feel old-fashioned and strained and can sometimes obscure your meaning.

• Poverty is best understood as a disease. Hereby , we not only see that it is hereditary, but acknowledge its devastating effects on a person’s health.

These words should usually be replaced with a more explicit phrasing expressing how the current statement relates to the preceding one.

• Poverty is best understood as a disease. Understanding it as such , we not only see that it is hereditary, but also acknowledge its devastating effects on a person’s health.

Using a paraphrasing tool for clear writing

With the use of certain tools, you can make your writing clear. One of these tools is a paraphrasing tool . One thing the tool does is help your sentences make more sense. It has different modes where it checks how your text can be improved. For example, automatically adding transition words where needed.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or writing rules make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

 Academic Writing

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• Passive voice
• Taboo words
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• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

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Expressing Opinions in English: Agreeing and Disagreeing

By: Author John

Posted on Last updated: October 26, 2023

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In this article, you’ll learn how to effectively express your opinion, agree and disagree with someone’s opinions with ESL images.

Express Your Opinion

1. sentence starters.

• I prefer…
• I think…
• I feel…
• I know…
• I believe…
• In my opinion…
• The best thing about…
• The greatest part about…
• The worst part about…
• Everyone should…
• …is better than … because…
• If you liked… than you will love….

2. General Point of View

• It is thought that…
• Some people say that…
• It is considered…
• It is generally accepted that…
• Disagreeing with an opinion
• Yes, but…
• I’m afraid I have to disagree.
• I’m sorry to disagree with you, but…
• That’s not entirely true.
• On the contrary…
• I’m not so sure about that.

3. Personal Point of View

• I have seen/noticed/observed that…
• I just don’t think it’s right that…
• One argument in favour of … is that…
• I think people should (have the right to) …
• In my experience…
• As far as I’m concerned…
• Personally, I think…
• I’d say that…
• I’d like to point out that..
• I believe that…
• Speaking for myself…
• Personally, I believe (feel)…
• I tend to think that…
• I am sure/certain/convinced that…
• As far as I understand/ can see, …

4. Giving the opposite opinion

• Maybe, but it seems to me that…
• I partly agree, but I still believe that…
• I don’t agree. In my opinion,…
• I completely disagree. To me,…

5. Clarifying your opinion

• No, that’s not what I’m trying to say.
• What I mean is …
• No, that’s not what I mean.
• All I’m saying is that …

6. Giving yourself time to think

• That’s an interesting point.
• I’ve never really thought about that.
• Um, let me think.
• It’s hard to say.

7. Agreeing with an opinion

• You’re absolutely right.
• Yes, I agree.
• I think so too.
• That’s a good point.
• That’s true.
• Neither do I.
• I couldn’t agree more.

8. Making Suggestions

• I suggest/ think you should …
• It might be better to …
• We/ you ought to …
• If I were you …, I would …
• I (don’t) think we/ you should…
• You/ we could …
• Couldn’t you/we…?
• Shall we …?
• How/What about…?
• Why don’t you/we …?
• Why not …?
• Let’s …

9. Responding to suggestions

• I was thinking exactly that myself.
• Sounds good (to me).
• OK, let’s do/try that.
• Yes, let’s do that.
• You’re right.
• That’s a good idea.
• It’s a good idea, but…
• But what if…?
• The only thing/ problem is…

Expressing Your Opinions

1. In my experience …

2. As far as I’m concerned …

3. In my opinion …

4. Personally, I think …

5. I’d like to point out that …

6. I believe that …

7. From my point of view …

8. If you ask me …

9. The way I see things …

10. I feel like …

11. I take the view that …

12. In my mind …

13. Speaking for myself…

14. As I see it …

15. My point of view is that …

16. In my view …

17. It seems to me that …

18. I figure out that …

19. I’m of the opinion that …

20. To be honest …

21. Well, I think …

22. I have no idea.

23. According to me …

24. In my case …

25. As I thought about this problem, I realized that …

26. Based on my own experience, I find that …

27. I don’t know about you, but I think …

Agreeing with Someone’s Opinion

1. Exactly.

2. Totally.

3. Definitely.

4. Of course.

5. That’s a good point.

6. You’re absolutely right.

7. That’s so true.

8. That’s for sure.

9. I’m with you 100%.

10. I couldn’t agree with you more.

11. I guess so.

12. I suppose.

13. Yes, I agree.

14. I think so too.

15. That’s a (very) good point.

16. Oh yes, that’s right.

17. I don’t think so either.

18. That’s true.

19. That’s just what I was thinking.

20. That’s exactly what I think.

21. I think you’re right.

22. I hear you.

23. Yes, me too / me neither.

24. I totally agree with you

25. You’re so very right!

26. You’re reading my mind.

27. My view about this is positive.

28. I agree with this idea.

29. I agree completely with this idea.

30. I agree partially with this idea.

31. This idea is absolutely right.

32. This idea is partially right.

33. I couldn’t agree more on this.

34. I think this idea is good.

Disagreeing with Someone’s Opinion

1. I don’t think I completely agree.

2. I’m not so sure about that.

3. I don’t think that’s the case.

4. That’s not necessarily true.

6. Absolutely not!

7. Are you kidding me?

8. I see, but that’s different.

9. Sorry, I don’t agree with you.

10. I don’t see it that way.

11. That’s not entirely true.

12. That’s partly true but…

13. I see your point but…

14. I’m sorry to disagree with you but…

15. Yes, but don’t you think…?

16. I think that’s not the same thing at all.

17. On the contrary…

18. Well, I’m not so sure about that.

19. Sorry, I think that’s wrong.

20. Yeah, but the problem is that…

21. Well, I think it’s not as simple as that.

22. I think this idea is impossible …

23. I think this idea is possible, but……

24. I think this idea cannot be implemented.

25. I think you’re totally wrong.

26. That doesn’t make any sense.

27. Absolutely wrong.

28. I don’t agree with this idea.

29. I think it is a bad idea.

30. I’m not sure that I agree with this idea.

31. The project is feasible, but …

32. Yes, but …

33. I’m afraid I have to disagree.

34. I’m sorry to disagree with you, but …

35. I see things differently.

36. I tend to disagree with that idea.

37. I agree up to a point, however …

38. You have a point there, but …

39. You could be right, however …

40. The idea is worth considering, but …

41. Perhaps a weakness of this is that …

42. I strongly disapprove of the plan.

43. I’m absolutely against the proposal .

How to Effectively Express Your Opinion | Image

How to effectively express your opinion | Image 1

How to effectively express your opinion | Image 2

How to effectively express your opinion | Image 3

How to effectively express your opinion | Image 4

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Rohan Kottege

Wednesday 12th of July 2023

This article is really good but it can serve better by adding full-sentence examples..

Maude tandama

Thursday 27th of October 2022

How can i down the pdf please

Transitional Words and Phrases

One of your primary goals as a writer is to present ideas in a clear and understandable way. To help readers move through your complex ideas, you want to be intentional about how you structure your paper as a whole as well as how you form the individual paragraphs that comprise it. In order to think through the challenges of presenting your ideas articulately, logically, and in ways that seem natural to your readers, check out some of these resources: Developing a Thesis Statement , Paragraphing , and Developing Strategic Transitions: Writing that Establishes Relationships and Connections Between Ideas.

While clear writing is mostly achieved through the deliberate sequencing of your ideas across your entire paper, you can guide readers through the connections you’re making by using transitional words in individual sentences. Transitional words and phrases can create powerful links between your ideas and can help your reader understand your paper’s logic.

In what follows, we’ve included a list of frequently used transitional words and phrases that can help you establish how your various ideas relate to each other. We’ve divided these words and phrases into categories based on the common kinds of relationships writers establish between ideas.

Two recommendations: Use these transitions strategically by making sure that the word or phrase you’re choosing matches the logic of the relationship you’re emphasizing or the connection you’re making. All of these words and phrases have different meanings, nuances, and connotations, so before using a particular transitional word in your paper, be sure you understand its meaning and usage completely, and be sure that it’s the right match for your paper’s logic. Use these transitional words and phrases sparingly because if you use too many of them, your readers might feel like you are overexplaining connections that are already clear.

Categories of Transition Words and Phrases

Causation Chronology Combinations Contrast Example

Importance Location Similarity Clarification Concession

Conclusion Intensification Purpose Summary

Transitions to help establish some of the most common kinds of relationships

Causation– Connecting instigator(s) to consequence(s).

accordingly as a result and so because

consequently for that reason hence on account of

since therefore thus

Chronology– Connecting what issues in regard to when they occur.

after afterwards always at length during earlier following immediately in the meantime

later never next now once simultaneously so far sometimes

soon subsequently then this time until now when whenever while

Combinations Lists– Connecting numerous events. Part/Whole– Connecting numerous elements that make up something bigger.

additionally again also and, or, not as a result besides even more

finally first, firstly further furthermore in addition in the first place in the second place

last, lastly moreover next second, secondly, etc. too

Contrast– Connecting two things by focusing on their differences.

after all although and yet at the same time but

despite however in contrast nevertheless nonetheless notwithstanding

on the contrary on the other hand otherwise though yet

Example– Connecting a general idea to a particular instance of this idea.

as an illustration e.g., (from a Latin abbreviation for “for example”)

for example for instance specifically that is

to demonstrate to illustrate

Importance– Connecting what is critical to what is more inconsequential.

chiefly critically

foundationally most importantly

of less importance primarily

Location– Connecting elements according to where they are placed in relationship to each other.

above adjacent to below beyond

centrally here nearby neighboring on

opposite to peripherally there wherever

Similarity– Connecting to things by suggesting that they are in some way alike.

by the same token in like manner

in similar fashion here in the same way

likewise wherever

Other kinds of transitional words and phrases Clarification

i.e., (from a Latin abbreviation for “that is”) in other words

that is that is to say to clarify to explain

to put it another way to rephrase it

granted it is true

naturally of course

finally lastly

in conclusion in the end

to conclude

Intensification

in fact indeed no

of course surely to repeat

undoubtedly without doubt yes

for this purpose in order that

so that to that end

to this end

in brief in sum

in summary in short

to sum up to summarize

Improving Your Writing Style

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Clear, Concise Sentences

Use the active voice

Put the action in the verb

Tidy up wordy phrases

Reduce wordy verbs

Reduce prepositional phrases

Reduce expletive constructions

Avoid using vague nouns

Avoid unneccessarily inflated words

Avoid noun strings

Connecting Ideas Through Transitions

Using Transitional Words and Phrases

An opinion essay

Learn how to write an opinion essay.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and tips and do the exercises.

Preparation

Matching_MjMxMDM=

Some people think that some types of criminals should not go to prison. Instead they should do unpaid work in the community. To what extent do you agree?

Owing to the great variety of crimes that can be punishable by prison, some people argue that not all criminals are the same and it would therefore be more appropriate to give certain criminals community service instead. I agree that in some cases, prison may not be the best solution and community service would probably have more benefits.

One justification given for prisons is to keep society safe by removing criminals from the outside world. So the first thing to consider is if someone who has broken the law is a danger to other people. In the case of violent crime, there is an argument to keep the perpetrator away from society. However, burglary or possession of drugs, for example, does not involve violence against other people so the criminal does not present a direct danger to anyone in the community. Keeping these types of criminals in prison is expensive for the taxpayer and does not appear to be an effective punishment as they often commit the same crime again when they come out of prison.

Personally, I also believe punishments should reform people so they do not reoffend. A further reason not to put these people in prison is that they may mix with more dangerous and violent criminals, potentially committing a worse crime when they are released. By keeping them in the community, helping others, they not only learn new skills, but they could also develop more empathy and care towards others. If this occurs, society can only benefit.

Critics of this more rehabilitative approach to crime believe that justice should be harsh in order to deter people from committing similar crimes and that community service could be less likely to have that effect. However, there is very little evidence to suggest that long prison sentences deter criminals.

In conclusion, putting criminals who are not a danger to society in prison is expensive and, in my opinion, ineffective, both as a deterrent and as a form of rehabilitation. Community service for non-violent crimes benefits both society and the offender. That said, it would be useful to have more data to work out whether community service or prison is more likely to stop someone reoffending. I strongly believe that decisions on how best to deal with criminals should be based on evidence of what actually works.

• Introduce your essay by restating the question in your own words.
• If the essay asks you to what extent do you agree?,  make your opinion clear throughout. You can either agree, partially agree or disagree with the statement, explaining and justifying your opinion.
• Introduction
• The first reason why you agree/disagree
• The second reason why you agree/disagree
• The third reason why you agree/disagree (if you have one)
• Use phrases to organise and link your ideas, e.g. Owing to … , One justification for … , The first thing to consider is … , A further reason … , In conclusion ... .
• If you do not have solid evidence for your ideas, use modal verbs such as might , may or could  (e.g. they could  develop more empathy and care ) or other tentative phrases (e.g. it does not appear to be an effective punishment ).
• Conclude by restating your opinion and summarising your two or three main arguments.

Do you agree that community service is better than prison for some crimes?

Language level

Good day Sir/Madam,

I would like to ask about the expression ‘So the first thing is to…’. In academic and formal writing, should I avoid using ‘thing’ or ‘so’ or is it still fine? Thanks a lot for taking your time to read this. Hope to hear from you.

Your sincerely, Kimmie

• Log in or register to post comments

Hi kimmie,

Thanks for your question. In academic and formal writing, there is a general preference for precision over vagueness, so generally speaking it's better to avoid this usage of  so  and  thing  and use more precise and academic terms when they are available (e.g. Therefore, the first factor/issue to consider is ... ).

However, if you search academic writing, you will find writers do use  thing  sometimes, especially in fixed phrases (e.g.  the first thing /   the same thing ) or technical terms ( e.g. the Internet of Things ). Some writers might also use more general terms first before moving onto more precise terms.

(Note: The essay on the page above is in a somewhat formal style but not very formal.)

I hope that helps.

LearnEnglish team

Hi Jonathan

This is immensely valuable for me. Thank you so much for your swift response. Hope you have a nice day.

In my country it is often debated whether community services are better than prison for certain crimes. I think it's pretty obvious that it should be an option for less important faults. However, sometimes it happens that a judge decides to grant this benefit to some type of powerful criminals who cause more significant damage to society than others who do not have the same possibility, such as financial criminals or corrupt government agents. In my opinion, these types of sentences can have a bad impact on people, since they see that these behaviors are not severely punished and are somehow protected by the law. In conclusion, I agree that certain types of crimes should avoid prison, but I believe that before implementing it, the society must agree on which crimes will be able to enjoy this possibility to ensure that justice is fair for all.

please approve for testing

Hello aaron,

We check all comments before publishing them, which is why it's taken some time for your comment to be published.

Normally we delete a comment like this -- and we deleted the other one you made -- but have let this one through so you can see that it works. 

We are a small team, so it can sometimes be several hours before comments are published -- just wanted to tell you for the future.

We look forward to hearing more from you!

All the best, Kirk LearnEnglish team

The subject of how criminals should be punished is complicated, there are a lot of different opinions defending their points of view. There are two main ideas the first is arresting all the offenders, and the second idea is separating those not dangerous to society, and sending them to work in the community. In my opinion, I agree with the second idea, because there are many expenses with the prisons and the prisoners, so if lessen the population in this environment the conditions and the quality could be better than if there were overpopulation, avoiding justice being done right. Furthermore, these people aren't violent and dangerous to others, so with bad company in the prison, they might become bad people too. In this case, it's an awful idea to mix a different kind of person. Therefore, it's an excellent suggestion to oblige these people to do work in society, but with supervision in the right way and strictly.

On account of the differences between several types of crimes, not all criminals should be sent to prison. It is suggested that giving certain offenders community service would be more appropriate than just jailing them.

Honestly, I completely agree that the right way to protect people from harm is to imprison criminals who conduct violent crimes that endanger human physical health. Nevertheless, this penalty may be ineffective with offenders who have administrative guilts or non-violent offenses. Since they often commit the same crime after getting out of prison, this is just a temporary punishment to ensure the security of citizens for a certain period. The nature of the problem is these crimes originate from greed and bad habits which lead to their deviant behaviors but have not yet resulted in such severe consequences that affect human life.

From my perspective, the government would rather reform these types of offenders than deter them as a kind of punishment. It is better to have an alternative that perceptively impacts these people’s awareness which is to make them do community service. Jailing these criminals just increases their hatred and develops antisocial personality. By keeping and controlling them in a community, besides learning new skills, they amend their bad manner as well as develop more empathy and care towards others.

Given these points, the application of punishment should be based on the nature of each specific crime. Prisons should only be used for perpetrators committing directly dangerous crimes to people's lives. Making non-violent criminals do community service is more of a practical way to optimize tax wasted for prisons as well as give them a chance to fix their wrong behaviors.

There are several types of crimes and for each of them, a different sentence is dictated. A paramount question to be considered is whether community servers are more accurate than prisons for some crimes.

To begin with, community servers would help and support criminals through specialized psychologists. Not only would community servers help and support them, but also it would give them jobs to help them give the society back a contribution in return.

In addition, prisons only contribute to worsening the situation owing to the fact that criminals will commit crimes again. The key to excellent behavior is learning. If they learn suitable habits, they will adapt to society and help it.

Furthermore, it is necessary to have empathy with criminals and not judge them because their hate increases when they are condemned in prison. A further reason for this is that hate feeds hate. Nevertheless, some criminals must be in jail due to their danger on the streets. It is difficult to know that a person who kills someone else, is going to change even if he/she receives help from psychologists.

In contrast, most of society believes that all criminals should be in prison. However, prisons must be all comfortable like a hotel in order to bring for the prisoners a place to recover themselves. The reason why they must live in appropriate conditions is due to his mental health. For instance, in Norway, prisons are like hotels because the government considers that criminals need a second chance to live in a community

To conclude, it would be suitable for all criminals to live in accurate prisons in order to recover themselves. Despite the cost that kind of prisons are supposed to take, they are worth paying for them. In my opinion, safety is priceless and is more important than the cost.

There are many things to consider in punishing criminals or law offender, Technically Speaking, Prison sentence varies entirely depending on a Country's legal system.

I partially agree in reinforcing community service to those non violent criminals, whereas harsh punishment for violent criminals who committed felonious crime. This perspective is reflected on my understandings in a community where social injustice is prevalent. In my country misdemeanor crime and felony crime offender are detained in the same prison cell, they only differ in the duration of prison sentence. This is where the serious societal issues of crime rate initially rooted, non violent offenders are mixed up with serious offenders, doing and smuggling drugs all a while in prison.

Further reasons to justify harsh punishment for felonious crime is it can act as deterent for potential criminals, while community service may reinforce less serious offender to reflect on their own actions and give back to the community. Moreover it may help them develop empathy towards others.

In my conclusions punishment should vary on the severity of the crime of the perpetrator, Criminals should be legally convicted and fairness in prosecution of Criminals must be reinforce.

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How to Write an Opinion Essay Like a Pro

So, they want you to write an opinion essay on a particular topic. What is that? What makes it different from other paper types? And, if this piece is so specific, how to structure it for a high grade?

Opinion papers have specifics. At schools or universities, educators assign them for students to learn how to build arguments and prove their position with logic and evidence. While its format resembles standard 5-paragraph academic papers, it’s critical to structure it with a particular tone and argument sequence.

In this blog post, we’ll tell you how to write an opinion essay. If you don’t have time to read or need practical help with writing, you can always ask our specialists for assistance.

What is an Opinion Essay?

An opinion essay  is a writing piece that presents the author’s point of view on a particular topic backed by reasoning, evidence, and examples. It also shares an opposing viewpoint but suggests arguments as to why it’s inconsistent.

Why write opinion pieces?

The purpose is to articulate your position, demonstrating  what  you think on a topic (question) and  why  you think so. The whys behind your thoughts come in handy when you  write reflective essays .

In academia, educators assign opinion essays to students so they learn how to express their views right. With these papers, teachers test students’ critical thinking, writing skills, ability to convey thoughts, and knowledge of a particular subject.

Opinions are also trendy online. (We all write social media posts expressing our thoughts on something.) You can also find them in personal blogs and Op-Ed sections of newspapers like the  New York Times.

When structured and presented right, opinion papers can impact how people think about a particular question. Millions of online users read them, and opinions expose the audiences to a massive array of points! How do you understand which one to believe?

The opinion writing skill will help you recognize a solid argument that is logical, reasoning, and backed with substantial evidence.

How is it different from other essay types?

Some students confuse opinion pieces with other paper types. Thus, argumentative or persuasive essays also convey points supported by research and other evidence. How do you know when it’s an opinion essay?

All these essay types have different goals.

• Opinion essays  are for sharing your views and explaining  why  you think so.
• Persuasive essays  are for convincing readers to agree with your statement.
• Argumentative essays  are for stating a fact and using even more arguments to back it up.

There’s also an  expository essay  where you explain a topic (not your point of view), providing the evidence but not trying to prove anything or convince anyone.

For an even deeper understanding of the opinion essay specifics, below are its criteria and guidelines to consider when writing it:

Opinion writing:

• Addresses a question from both sides;
• Provides a well-reasoned statement;
• Supports the opinion with arguments, evidence, and examples;
• Follows a logical structure;
• Incorporates writing instruments like power words, diverse language, and transition words to engage readers and motivate them to proceed.

Opinion Essay: How to Write (7 Steps)

• Choose a topic
• Outline your essay
• Write an opinion essay introduction
• Draft a 3-paragraph essay body
• Write a conclusion

Now, to practice:

Below are your seven steps on how to write an opinion essay. They aren’t tricky to follow but are a must to consider if you want your paper to sound argumentative, logical, and reasoning for readers to understand you.

1 – Choose a topic

In school or college life, a teacher assigns essay topics for students to cover. But if you don’t have a prompt and are free to choose a topic, your first step would be brainstorming:

Decide what you might want to cover in your opinion essay.

Important:  Remember that your task is to form an opinion and back it up with reasoning and evidence. You’ll need to not only agree or disagree with an issue but explain  why  you think so.

Here are some topics for opinion essays to inspire you:

• Children watch too much television
• Sex education in the schools
• The acceptance of using animals in scientific research
• Parents are the best teachers. Yes or no?
• Children should grow up in the countryside than in a big city.
• Are women better parents than men? 
• There are situations when it’s better to hide the truth 
• The mass media shape and influence people’s ideas. Agree?
•  Should rich countries forgive all the debts of poor ones? 
• Schools should ask students to evaluate their teachers. 

Once you have a topic, decide on your opinion and think of the arguments (and data) to support it. Investigate the topic and research sources you’ll use in an essay. Also, ensure to research counterarguments or alternative perspectives: You’ll need to present them in your paper and explain why they are inconsistent.

2 – Outline your essay

While researching the topic, do your best to develop an outline for your future paper. It’s a plan (structure of opinion essay) to place all the arguments where they make the most sense.

Use a 5-paragraph essay structure (1): Your opinion paper will need an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Feel free to use this template:

The outline will save you tons of time in writing an essay. Once you have all the arguments, facts, and examples of where they should go, it will be easier (and faster!) to write a draft. All you’ll need to do is join them in a coherent text.

3 – Write an opinion essay introduction

Now, it’s time to start writing a draft. The introduction of your opinion essay is one paragraph with a hook, topic intro, and thesis statement explaining your point of view to readers.

How to write an introduction paragraph for an opinion essay?

• A writing hook — one sentence
• Stating the subject matter — one or two sentences
• Thesis statement and introducing your first argument — one or two sentences

Remember that opinion essays are about brevity and accuracy. Write a concise introduction, using a scholarly tone and introducing your subject (topic) with clarity.

How do you write a hook for an opinion essay? You can start with a statement, a question, surprising statistics, or an intriguing and rare quote related to your topic. A writing hook is an instrument to capture interest and motivate the audience to keep reading.

4 – Draft a 3-paragraph essay body

After the introduction, the essay body comes. A standard opinion essay consists of three body paragraphs, each with a claim, explanations with proofs and examples, and a transitional sentence to the next paragraph.

The first two paragraphs are for the arguments supporting your point of view. The third paragraph is for alternative opinions and your explanation of why they are inconsistent.

When writing, include references (quotes, examples, etc.) you’ve gathered when researching. Address the outline to ensure your points are reasoning and presented in a logical consequence.

5 – Write a conclusion

How to write a conclusion for an opinion essay?

• Summarize all points — one or two sentences
• Restate your thesis — one sentence
• Round up the subject — one sentence

The conclusion of an opinion essay is one final paragraph organizing all the information for readers to remember. It’s a summary repeating your opinion statement with the arguments you introduced to prove it’s valid. You can also provide another related fact, ask a rhetorical question, or leave readers with a call to action.

6 – Revise

Once your opinion essay draft is ready, it’s time to revise it. Reread it several times to check for logic, reasoning, and flow. Re-check the evidence you used to support your opinion, remove colloquial expressions and repetitions, and ensure it sounds scholarly and crystal clear.

7 – Proofread

The final stage before submitting an essay to a teacher or publishing it online is proofreading:

Reread your draft (yes, once again!) to “catch” all possible typos or slight grammar mistakes. A little trick can help here: Read the essay aloud! It allows you to “hear” how it sounds and notice tiny details you might miss when working on the draft.

Opinion Essay Examples

Any questions left on how to start an opinion essay, what is an opinion essay format, or how does it look when completed? The below samples will help. Seeing once is better than hearing twice, right?

Please note that the below opinion essay examples are for informative and educational purposes only. Do not copy them to submit to teachers.

A 500-word essay sample:

A 300 words essay sample:

Dos and Don’ts of Writing an Opinion Essay

We’ve asked our writers to share practical tips on writing an A-worthy opinion essay. Here come their dos and don’ts of crafting this type of academic paper:

Bonus! Opinion Words and Phrases

They allow your writing to flow, linking the points together to ensure a logical sequence and help readers follow your train of thought. In opinion writing, these words are introductory phrases, transitions, and opinion clues to explain your view and make the audience understand how your ideas relate.

For those wondering how to write an opinion essay without using I, the phrases could be as follows:

Sure enough, they work for standard first-person opinion essays, too.

That is it! Opinion essay writing is not that challenging to master:

Be concise, use a clear thesis, support it with arguments and references, and ensure its logical consequence.

Any doubts or questions left on how to write an opinion essay? Don’t hesitate to ask: Our professional academic writers are here to help!

References:

• https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/ace/downloads/tipsheets/writingtipsheets/fivparstr.pdf
• Essay samples
• Essay writing
• Writing tips

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Modifying Words and Phrases to Express Opinions

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There are a number of words and phrases that can help express your opinion . These words and phrases are common in creative writing , writing reports, and other types of writing intended to persuade .

Giving Your Opinion

Using a modifying word can help you express your opinion when making a statement . For example: Investing in high-tech stocks is risky. You could agree or disagree with this statement. Using a word such as undoubtedly expresses your own opinion about the statement. Here are some other modifying words and phrases that can help:

• (Most) assuredly + adjective: ​ These investments will most assuredly help to build equity.
• Without a doubt + clause: Without a doubt, this investment is risky.
• It is doubtful that + clause: It is doubtful that we will succeed with this attitude.

Qualifying Your Opinion

Sometimes, when giving an opinion it is important to qualify what you say by leaving room for other interpretations. For example, There is hardly any doubt that we will succeed. leaves room for other interpretations (hardly any doubt = a little room for doubt). Here are some other modifying words and phrases that can help qualify your opinion:

• Almost/nearly + adjective: It's nearly impossible to make a mistake.
• Largely/mainly + noun: It's largely a matter of getting the facts right.
• Many ways/some ways + it/this/that, etc: In many ways, ​it's a sure bet.

Making a Strong Assertion

Certain words mark strong opinions about something you believe. For example, It is not true that I implied you were wrong. is strengthened by adding the word 'just': It is just not true that I implied you were wrong. Here are some other modifying words and phrases that can help strengthen an assertion:

• Simply/just + adjective: It is simply wrong to believe that about John.
• Mere + noun: That is a mere distraction from the main point.
• Merely/only + the + first, last: This is merely the last in a number of problems.
• Sheer/utter + noun: The sheer idiocy of the project speaks for itself.

Emphasizing Your Point

When stating that an action is increasingly true, these phrases help to emphasize. For example, We have decided over and over again that we need to continue down this path. Here are some other phrases that help to emphasize your point:

• More than + adjective: It is more than likely he will fail.
• More and more + adjective: I'm afraid it is becoming more and more difficult to believe you.

Giving Examples

When stating your opinion it is important to give examples to support your statements. For example, It is more than likely he will fail. In the case of Mr. Smith, he failed to follow-up and caused us to pay heavy fines. The following phrases are used to give examples to back up your opinion.

• Such as + noun: Critics of this policy, such as Jack Beam of Smith and Sons, say that ...
• This is an example of + clause: This is an example of our need to diversify investments.
• In the case of + noun: In the case of Ms. Anderson, the company decided to ...

Summarizing Your Opinion

Finally, it is important to summarize your opinion at the end of a report or other persuasive text. For example: In the end, it is important to remember that ... These phrases can be used to summarize your opinion:

• All in all,: All in all, I feel we need to diversify due to ...
• In the end,: In the end, we must decide quickly to implement this plan.
• In conclusion,: In conclusion, let me repeat my strong support for ...
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Opinion Writing: a Guide to Writing a Successful Essay Easily

An opinion essay requires students to write their thoughts regarding a subject matter. Relevant examples and explanations back their point of view. Before starting an opinion paper, it is important to study the definition, topics, requirements, and structure. Referring to examples is also highly useful. Perhaps you need help with our admission essay writing service ? Take a look at this guide from our dissertation writing service to learn how to write an opinion essay like an expert.

What Is an Opinion Essay

A common question among students is: ‘What is an Opinion Essay?' It is an assignment that contains questions that allow students to share their point-of-view on a subject matter. Students should express their thoughts precisely while providing opinions on the issue related to the field within reasonable logic. Some opinion essays type require references to back the writer's claims.

Opinion writing involves using a student's personal point-of-view, which is segregated into a point. It is backed by examples and explanations. The paper addresses the audience directly by stating ‘Dear Readers' or the equivalent. The introduction involves a reference to a speech, book, or play. This is normally followed by a rhetorical question like ‘is the pope Catholic?' or something along those lines.

What Kind of Student Faces an Opinion Essay

Non-native English-speaking students enrolled in the International English Language Testing System by the British Council & Cambridge Assessment English are tasked with learning how to write the opinion essays. This can be high-school or college students. It is designed to enhance the level of English among students. It enables them to express their thoughts and opinions while writing good opinion essay in English.

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What Are the Requirements of an Opinion Essay?

Avoid Going Off-Topic: Always write an opinion essay within relevance to answer the assigned question. This is also known as ‘beating around the bush' and should not be included in any opinion paragraph as it may lower your grade.

Indent the First Paragraph: With most academic papers, opinion writing is not different. Therefore, it contains the rule of indenting the first line of the introduction.

A Well-Thought Thesis: The full thesis statement is a brief description of the opinion essay. It determines the rest of the paper. Include all the information that you wish to include in the body paragraphs

The Use of Formal Languages: Although it is okay to write informally, keep a wide range of professional and formal words. This includes: ‘Furthermore,' ‘As Stated By,' ‘However', & ‘Thus'.

Avoid Internet Slang: In the opinion paper, avoid writing using slang words. Don'tDon't include words like ‘LOL', ‘OMG', ‘LMAO', etc.

The Use of First Person Language (Optional): For the reason of providing personal thought, it is acceptable to write your personal opinion essay in the first person.

Avoid Informal Punctuation: Although the requirements allow custom essay for the first-person language, they do not permit informal punctuation. This includes dashes, exclamation marks, and emojis.

Avoid Including Contradictions: Always make sure all spelling and grammar is correct.

We also recommend reading about types of sentences with examples .

Opinion Essay Topics

Before learning about the structure, choosing from a wide range of opinion essay topics is important. Picking an essay theme is something that can be done very simply. Choosing an excellent opinion essay topic that you are interested in or have a passion for is advisable. Otherwise, you may find the writing process boring. This also ensures that your paper will be both effective and well-written.

• Do sports differ from ordinary board games?
• Is using animals in circus performances immoral?
• Why should we be honest with our peers?
• Should all humans be entitled to a 4-day workweek?
• Should all humans become vegetarians?
• Does a CEO earn too much?
• Should teens be barred from having sleepovers?
• Should everyone vote for their leader?
• The Pros & Cons of Day-Light Saving Hours.
• What are the most energy-efficient and safest cars of X year?

Opinion Essay Structure

When it comes to opinion paragraphs, students may struggle with the opinion essay format. The standard five-paragraph-essay structure usually works well for opinion essays. Figuring out what one is supposed to include in each section may be difficult for beginners. This is why following the opinion essay structure is something all beginners should do, for their own revision before writing the entire essay.

You might also be interested in getting more information about: 5 PARAGRAPH ESSAY

Opinion essay introduction

• Address the audience directly, and state the subject matter.
• Reference a speech, poem, book, or play.
• Include the author's name and date of publication in brackets.
• 1 or 2 sentences to make up a short description.
• 1 or 2 summarizing sentences of the entire paper.
• 1 sentence that links to the first body paragraph.

Body Paragraph 1

• Supporting arguments
• Explanation
• A linking sentence to the second body paragraph.

Body Paragraph 2

• Supporting argument
• A linking sentence to the third body paragraph.

Body Paragraph 3

• A linking sentence to the conclusion.

Conclusion paragraph

• Summary of the entire paper
• A conclusive sentence (the bigger picture in conclusion)

If you need some help, leave us a message ' write my essay cheap ' and we'll help.

Opinion Essay Examples

Do you need something for reference? Reading opinion essay examples can expand your knowledge of this style of writing, as you get to see exactly how this form of an essay is written. Take a look at our samples to get an insight into this form of academic writing.

Over the past, American popular culture has been strong in creating racial stereotypes. Images displayed through television, music, and the internet have an impact on how individuals behave and what individuals believe. People find their identities and belief systems from popular culture. Evidently, I believe that American pop culture has created racial stereotypes that predominantly affect other ethnic minorities. Analyzing the history of America reveals that African Americans have always had a problem defining themselves as Americans ever since the era of slavery. AfricanAmericans have always had a hard time being integrated into American culture. The result is that African Americans have been subjected to ridicule and shame. American pop culture has compounded the problem by enhancing the negative stereotypes ofAfrican American. In theatre, film, and music, African Americans have been associated with vices such as murder, theft, and violence.

The family systems theory has a significant revelation on family relations. I firmly agree that to understand a particular family or a member, they should be around other family members. The emotional connection among different family members may create functional or dysfunctional coexistence, which is not easy to identify when an individual is further from the other members. Taking an example of the extended family, the relationship between the mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law may be tense, but once they are outside the family, they can pretend to have a good relationship. Therefore, I agree with the theory that the existing emotional attachment and developed culture in the family is distinctively understood when the family is together.

Opinion writing is a form of academic paper that asks students to include their thoughts on a particular topic. This is then backed by a logical explanation and examples. Becoming more knowledgeable is a practical way to successfully learn how to write an opinion paper. Before writing anything, it is essential to refer to important information. That includes the definition, topics, opinion writing examples, and requirements. This is what turns amateur writers into master writers.

Feeling like you need some assistance with your essay? No matter what kind of writer you need, opinion or persuasive essay writer , our team consists of experts in all fields. Our college essay writing service helps those students who need an extra push when it comes to their assignments.

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Related Articles

Giving Opinions

This is just my opinion, but...

This page lists useful expressions for the language function of giving opinions .

• I (really) think that …
• I believe (that) …
• I’m sure that …
• In my opinion / My opinion is …

Pre-intermediate

• I agree with …
• I feel that …
• I guess/imagine …
• I have no doubt that / I’m certain that …
• I strongly believe that …
• I’ve never really thought about this before, but …
• My personal opinion is that / Personally, my opinion is that …
• To be honest / In my honest opinion, …

Intermediate

• As far as I know, …
• I agree with the opinion of …
• I could be wrong, but …
• I’d definitely say that …
• I’d guess/imagine that …
• I’d say that …
• I’m absolutely certain that …
• I’m fairly confident that …
• I’m no expert (on this), but …
• I’m positive that …
• I’m pretty sure that …
• It seems to me that …
• It’s a complicated/difficult issue, but …
• My (point of) view (on this) is …
• Obviously, …
• Some people may disagree with me, but …
• This is just my opinion, but …
• Without a doubt, …
• You probably won’t agree, but …

Upper-intermediate

• After much thought, …
• After weighing up both sides of the argument, …
• Although I can see both points of view / Although I can understand the opposite point of view, …
• As I see it, ...
• Correct me if I’m wrong, but …
• For me/ From my point of view, …
• I am not very familiar with this topic, but …
• I do believe/ feel/think …
• I have come to the conclusion that …
• I might change my mind later, but …
• I reckon/suppose …
• I tend to think that …
• I’m not sure I’m the right person to ask, but / I have very limited experience of this, but …
• I’m pretty confident that …
• I’ve always thought that …
• If you ask me, …
• I'm (absolutely) convinced that …
• In my humble opinion / IMHO, …
• It could be said that …
• It seems clear to me that …
• It would seem to me that …
• My initial reaction is …
• Not everyone will/would agree with me, but …
• Personally speaking / Speaking for myself, …
• The way I see it (is) …
• To be (perfectly) frank, …
• To the best of my knowledge, …
• What I think is …
• You could say …
• After giving this matter some (serious) thought, …
• As far as I'm concerned, …
• As the old saying goes, …
• Having given this question due consideration, …
• I am of the opinion that …
• I can’t help thinking that …
• I know this is a minority view, but / I’m in the minority in thinking that …
• I tend towards the opinion that …
• I think it’s fair/reasonable to say …
• I’ll tell you what I think, …
• I’m entirely/quite convinced that …
• I’ve come the conclusion that …
• If I must come up with an opinion / If you (really) want my opinion, …
• In my limited experience, …
• It could/might well be that …
• Know what I think? …
• My opinion was best expressed by … when s/he said/wrote …
• My view/position on this (issue) (is clear and) is that …
• Off the top of my head, …
• Quite frankly, …
• There is a part of me that says …
• This may well be controversial, but …
• To my mind / To my way of thinking, ...
• To summarise my (rather complex) views on the matter, …
• What I always say is …
• With some reservations, …
• Without a shred/shadow of doubt, …
• You’d have to be crazy not to agree that / Any idiot can see that …

+30 Giving Your Opinion Phrases in English

• Fist of all, I would like to say …
• First …, second …, third …
• Another example of this point is that …
• Sorry, I can’t accept your opinion that …
• As I see it…
• Well, if you ask me…
• I’m not sure if …
• I’m not satisfied that …
• I’m not convinced that…
• I doubt that …
• In my view…
• I think that…
• I tell you all this because …
• I base my argument on …
• I’m already thinking that because …
• In my opinion,…
• I feel that…
• I would say that…
• It seems to me that…
• You took the words right out of my mouth.
• That’s very important point.
• You are right.
• I strongly agree with you.
• You’re quite right.
• I am of the opinion that …
• Speaking personally…
• I’m sorry but I’m of a different opinion.
• I don’t agree with you about …
• In addition to that …
• Furthermore …

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Why has LinkedIn become so weird?

It is now used as a full social network – and is changing how we think about our identities and accomplishments. Time for us all to be a lot more honest ...

A friend recently asked me to help her look for a job. She wanted help writing a cover letter, a CV and an update on her LinkedIn profile. The first two tasks were easy, but the third? Not so much.

If, like me, you haven’t been on LinkedIn for a while, it is – for lack of a better word – weird , now. What used to be a perfunctory, professional space sitting in stark contrast to the oversharing of other social media, LinkedIn is now full of 1,000-word polemics from unqualified people (“here’s really what makes people tick” says a “wizard of wellbeing”), photos of holidays (“work hard, play hard!”) and empty motivational platitudes (“give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to code and …” OK, sorry, I did just make that one up). It’s all a bit cultish, and work is what is worshipped. Stepford Wives, employment edition.

LinkedIn even has its own language now. Spend more than five minutes on it and you’ll notice everyone parroting the same phrases. Seemingly everyone has a “proven track record for delivering results” and a “belief in integrated solutions” (one of those buzz phrases that makes less sense the more you think about it. Doesn’t everyone have a belief in integrated solutions? Or are there some people out there thinking: “I personally hate joined-up thinking”). Others have an emotive, possibly too-much-information story to share (“I failed my exams at school, got married young, got divorced young, but now I work at Google and have a spicy girlfriend”), and many want to “reach out” – please, no touching in the workplace! – to discuss unnamed “opportunities”.

Now, you may be reading this thinking: “Who cares? Let them have their space and stay off the platform if you don’t like it.” And ordinarily, I might agree. But then I watched my brilliant friend – my accomplished, talented friend – crumble in the face of it. Her journey has been non-linear: market stalls to magazines, counselling training and now HR. In my view, her work experience is diverse, rich and what makes her excellent at her job, but it doesn’t fit neatly in the boxes of LinkedIn. It upset her to try to upload her life into this format – where dates had to be applied and money assigned (how do you get around the mandatory “add date” for the experience of motherhood and informal childcare in your neighbourhood? Are you “freelancing” if you organise community art events for nothing but a sense of civic pride?). She felt uncomfortable trading in grandiose statements of “personal transformation”, even though she has been on more of a journey than many users on the platform. But job vacancy adverts increasingly say “apply with your LinkedIn”, and everyone in her field has joined the Stepford employees. I can see why she felt this is what she had to do – that employers would look for it, and she needed to be there; that if she didn’t compete, she’d be left behind.

Much has been written about how tech is changing how we see ourselves and each other. Instagram pushing unattainable beauty standards and lifestyles, Facebook fake news chipping away at people’s belief in institutions, an X format that reduces a complex thought to 280 characters (no wonder nuance is impossible!), turning all of us into outrage addicts. Dating apps have commodified and gamified those most human phenomena: love and desire. Yet somehow LinkedIn has been left out of the spotlight. But here’s my contention: I think it is doing something to us, shifting how we see our accomplishments, what we assign value to and what we don’t. And perhaps most chilling of all, it promotes the idea that we are all just brands, and we must always – always – be selling. Apparently, LinkedIn is now being used as a full social network, a place where people talk about their marriages, make friends and maybe even date . What does that tell us about our lives outside work? Do we even still have lives outside work at all?

Perhaps what is needed is a bit of real and refreshing honesty on LinkedIn. What could it look like, I wonder? I’ll go first.

Hello, I am Coco. I have a proven track record of not responding to text messages in a timely manner. I am a strategic thought leader, in that I have thoughts and I sometimes let them lead me, but not always. I didn’t fail my science GCSEs but I didn’t do as well in science as English, and that really has shaped all my career choices since. Predictable, really. I actually don’t think giving 100% every day is great; I think 80% is good and well-organised, and 100% only when necessary. Want to talk ideas to grow your business? Try me on WhatsApp, and I may reply.

Coco Khan is a freelance writer and co-host of the politics podcast Pod Save the UK

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Range media partners signs keegan-michael key, elle key & their bigger picture media banner, los angeles times columnist apologizes for “deeply offensive” descriptions of lsu women’s team – update.

By Bruce Haring , Tom Tapp

UPDATED with statement: Los Angeles Times columnist Ben Bolch, who came under widespread fire for a column about the LSU – UCLA Women’s NCAA tournament matchup in which he called the Lady Tigers “dirty debutantes” and called them “villains,” while calling the Bruins “milk and cookies,” has apologized.

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He goes on to write that while he did not intend to be hurtful, “the words I used were wrong.”

A LONG OVERDUE APOLOGY: pic.twitter.com/lgZkCt21Ft — Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) April 1, 2024

PREVIOUSLY on Sunday: A Los Angeles Times column criticized as “sexist” by LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey was changed online by the newspaper early this morning because it “did not meet Times editorial standards.”

LSU beat UCLA 78-69 on Saturday to advance in the Women’s NCAA tournament. Before the game, columnist Ben Bolch wrote that the Lady Tigers were “dirty debutantes” and called them “villains,” while calling the Bruins “milk and cookies.” He called the matchup “good versus evil.”

Bolch’s column was updated at 12:55 a.m. ET, with an update notice inserted at 1:10 a.m. All of the phrases were removed, though the headline still refers to “villains.”

“The one thing I’m not going to let you do, I’m not going to let you attack young people, and there were some things in this commentary, guys, that you should be offended by as women. It was so sexist, and they don’t even know it,” Mulkey said Saturday.

“It was good versus evil in that game today. Evil? Called us dirty debutantes? Take your phone out right now and Google dirty debutantes and tell me what it says. Dirty debutantes? Are you kidding me? I’m not going to let you talk about 18-to-21-year-old kids in that tone.”

The story said Mulkey clashed with players “about their appearances and displays of their sexuality,” while her lawyers said in the piece that she did not treat gay players “more harshly or differently.”

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Guest Essay

A.I.-Generated Garbage Is Polluting Our Culture

By Erik Hoel

Mr. Hoel is a neuroscientist and novelist and the author of The Intrinsic Perspective newsletter.

Increasingly, mounds of synthetic A.I.-generated outputs drift across our feeds and our searches. The stakes go far beyond what’s on our screens. The entire culture is becoming affected by A.I.’s runoff, an insidious creep into our most important institutions.

Consider science. Right after the blockbuster release of GPT-4, the latest artificial intelligence model from OpenAI and one of the most advanced in existence, the language of scientific research began to mutate. Especially within the field of A.I. itself.

Adjectives associated with A.I.-generated text have increased in peer reviews of scientific papers about A.I.

Frequency of adjectives per one million words

Commendable

A study published this month examined scientists’ peer reviews — researchers’ official pronouncements on others’ work that form the bedrock of scientific progress — across a number of high-profile and prestigious scientific conferences studying A.I. At one such conference, those peer reviews used the word “meticulous” more than 34 times as often as reviews did the previous year. Use of “commendable” was around 10 times as frequent, and “intricate,” 11 times. Other major conferences showed similar patterns.

Such phrasings are, of course, some of the favorite buzzwords of modern large language models like ChatGPT. In other words, significant numbers of researchers at A.I. conferences were caught handing their peer review of others’ work over to A.I. — or, at minimum, writing them with lots of A.I. assistance. And the closer to the deadline the submitted reviews were received, the more A.I. usage was found in them.

If this makes you uncomfortable — especially given A.I.’s current unreliability — or if you think that maybe it shouldn’t be A.I.s reviewing science but the scientists themselves, those feelings highlight the paradox at the core of this technology: It’s unclear what the ethical line is between scam and regular usage. Some A.I.-generated scams are easy to identify, like the medical journal paper featuring a cartoon rat sporting enormous genitalia. Many others are more insidious, like the mislabeled and hallucinated regulatory pathway described in that same paper — a paper that was peer reviewed as well (perhaps, one might speculate, by another A.I.?).

What about when A.I. is used in one of its intended ways — to assist with writing? Recently, there was an uproar when it became obvious that simple searches of scientific databases returned phrases like “As an A.I. language model” in places where authors relying on A.I. had forgotten to cover their tracks. If the same authors had simply deleted those accidental watermarks, would their use of A.I. to write their papers have been fine?

What’s going on in science is a microcosm of a much bigger problem. Post on social media? Any viral post on X now almost certainly includes A.I.-generated replies, from summaries of the original post to reactions written in ChatGPT’s bland Wikipedia-voice, all to farm for follows. Instagram is filling up with A.I.-generated models, Spotify with A.I.-generated songs. Publish a book? Soon after, on Amazon there will often appear A.I.-generated “workbooks” for sale that supposedly accompany your book (which are incorrect in their content; I know because this happened to me). Top Google search results are now often A.I.-generated images or articles. Major media outlets like Sports Illustrated have been creating A.I.-generated articles attributed to equally fake author profiles. Marketers who sell search engine optimization methods openly brag about using A.I. to create thousands of spammed articles to steal traffic from competitors.

Then there is the growing use of generative A.I. to scale the creation of cheap synthetic videos for children on YouTube. Some example outputs are Lovecraftian horrors, like music videos about parrots in which the birds have eyes within eyes, beaks within beaks, morphing unfathomably while singing in an artificial voice, “The parrot in the tree says hello, hello!” The narratives make no sense, characters appear and disappear randomly, and basic facts like the names of shapes are wrong. After I identified a number of such suspicious channels on my newsletter, The Intrinsic Perspective, Wired found evidence of generative A.I. use in the production pipelines of some accounts with hundreds of thousands or even millions of subscribers.

As a neuroscientist, this worries me. Isn’t it possible that human culture contains within it cognitive micronutrients — things like cohesive sentences, narrations and character continuity — that developing brains need? Einstein supposedly said : “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” But what happens when a toddler is consuming mostly A.I.-generated dream-slop? We find ourselves in the midst of a vast developmental experiment.

There’s so much synthetic garbage on the internet now that A.I. companies and researchers are themselves worried, not about the health of the culture, but about what’s going to happen with their models. As A.I. capabilities ramped up in 2022, I wrote on the risk of culture’s becoming so inundated with A.I. creations that when future A.I.s are trained, the previous A.I. output will leak into the training set, leading to a future of copies of copies of copies, as content became ever more stereotyped and predictable. In 2023 researchers introduced a technical term for how this risk affected A.I. training: model collapse . In a way, we and these companies are in the same boat, paddling through the same sludge streaming into our cultural ocean.

With that unpleasant analogy in mind, it’s worth looking to what is arguably the clearest historical analogy for our current situation: the environmental movement and climate change. For just as companies and individuals were driven to pollute by the inexorable economics of it, so, too, is A.I.’s cultural pollution driven by a rational decision to fill the internet’s voracious appetite for content as cheaply as possible. While environmental problems are nowhere near solved, there has been undeniable progress that has kept our cities mostly free of smog and our lakes mostly free of sewage. How?

Before any specific policy solution was the acknowledgment that environmental pollution was a problem in need of outside legislation. Influential to this view was a perspective developed in 1968 by Garrett Hardin, a biologist and ecologist. Dr. Hardin emphasized that the problem of pollution was driven by people acting in their own interest, and that therefore “we are locked into a system of ‘fouling our own nest,’ so long as we behave only as independent, rational, free-enterprisers.” He summed up the problem as a “tragedy of the commons.” This framing was instrumental for the environmental movement, which would come to rely on government regulation to do what companies alone could or would not.

Once again we find ourselves enacting a tragedy of the commons: short-term economic self-interest encourages using cheap A.I. content to maximize clicks and views, which in turn pollutes our culture and even weakens our grasp on reality. And so far, major A.I. companies are refusing to pursue advanced ways to identify A.I.’s handiwork — which they could do by adding subtle statistical patterns hidden in word use or in the pixels of images.

A common justification for inaction is that human editors can always fiddle around with whatever patterns are used if they know enough. Yet many of the issues we’re experiencing are not caused by motivated and technically skilled malicious actors; they’re caused mostly by regular users’ not adhering to a line of ethical use so fine as to be nigh nonexistent. Most would be uninterested in advanced countermeasures to statistical patterns enforced into outputs that should, ideally, mark them as A.I.-generated.

That’s why the independent researchers were able to detect A.I. outputs in the peer review system with surprisingly high accuracy: They actually tried. Similarly, right now teachers across the nation have created home-brewed output-side detection methods , like adding hidden requests for patterns of word use to essay prompts that appear only when copied and pasted.

In particular, A.I. companies appear opposed to any patterns baked into their output that can improve A.I.-detection efforts to reasonable levels, perhaps because they fear that enforcing such patterns might interfere with the model’s performance by constraining its outputs too much — although there is no current evidence this is a risk. Despite public pledges to develop more advanced watermarking, it’s increasingly clear that the companies are dragging their feet because it goes against the A.I. industry’s bottom line to have detectable products.

To deal with this corporate refusal to act we need the equivalent of a Clean Air Act: a Clean Internet Act. Perhaps the simplest solution would be to legislatively force advanced watermarking intrinsic to generated outputs, like patterns not easily removable. Just as the 20th century required extensive interventions to protect the shared environment, the 21st century is going to require extensive interventions to protect a different, but equally critical, common resource, one we haven’t noticed up until now since it was never under threat: our shared human culture.

Erik Hoel is a neuroscientist, a novelist and the author of The Intrinsic Perspective newsletter.

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