How to Express Your Opinion in English

0:00Opinions.

0:01We all have opinions.

0:02We have opinions on the weather.

0:04We have opinions on the latest movie that we watched.

0:08And in English, you'll probably want to

0:10know how to express those opinions.

0:13A few weeks ago, one of you asked me to make

0:15a lesson about how to express your opinion in English.

0:19So what I did is I listened.

0:21I listened for about three weeks to everyone around

0:23me having English conversations, and I made a list

0:26of, I think, the ten most common ways that

0:29I heard people expressing their opinions.

0:32So in this lesson, I'll share that list with

0:34you, and hopefully it will help you express your

0:36opinion in English in your next English conversation.

0:46So the first three phrases you can

0:48use to express your opinion are very

0:49common, and you might already know them.

0:51They are, I think, I feel like,

0:54and in my opinion. If you asked me if it was going

0:57to rain today, I might respond and give my opinion by saying,

1:01I think it might rain today, or I feel like it might

1:04rain today, or in my opinion, it might rain today.

1:07So you might know these already.

1:08But the first three, the simplest

1:10three, I think, I feel like,

1:12and in my opinion. You can use all of those

1:15to start a sentence where you express your opinion.

1:18The next phrase I want to teach you that you can use

1:20to express your opinion is the phrase, the way I see it.

1:24If you like sports, you can watch sports on TV, or you

1:28can go watch sports in a stadium and see it live.

1:32The way I see it, watching a sport

1:34live is better than watching it on TV.

1:37You can see I'm expressing my opinion, and I'm introducing

1:41it with the phrase the way I see it.

1:43So the way I see it, live sports are just more fun.

1:46When you go to a stadium, you can buy a hot

1:48dog, you can sit, you can hear the roar of the

1:51crowd, and you experience the game in a different way.

1:55So the way I see it, watching a sport

1:57live is better than watching it on TV.

2:00The next phrase you can use to express

2:01your opinion is, here's what I think.

2:04And I know it has the little phrase I

2:06think in it, and I already taught that one.

2:08But as I kept track of what people

2:10were saying, I heard that a lot.

2:12Here's what I think.

2:13Maybe you're in a meeting and

2:15you're planning a class trip.

2:16Maybe it's a group of teachers, and someone

2:18says, should we walk to the place we're

2:21going or should we take a bus?

2:23I could express my opinion by

2:25saying, here's what I think.

2:27It's going to be really hot tomorrow,

2:28and the bus has air conditioning.

2:30I think we should take a bus.

2:32So another way to express your opinion, using the

2:34phrase I think, but kind of making it a

2:36bit longer, is to say, here's what I think.

2:39So I was talking to my friend the

2:41other day, and we were talking about online

2:43shopping versus going to a store.

2:46And I introduced my opinion by saying,

2:49as far as I'm concerned, online shopping

2:52is better than shopping in a store.

2:54And my friend disagreed with me, but

2:56that's how I introduced my opinion.

2:59I used the phrase, as far as I'm concerned. As far

3:02as I'm concerned, it's just easier to shop on my computer.

3:05I click everything that I want, and then I

3:07click checkout, and then the next day it comes.

3:10When I go to a store, I have to

3:11drive there and I have to use gas, and

3:14it costs money and it takes lots of time.

3:16So as far as I'm concerned,

3:19that's my opinion about shopping.

3:20As far as I'm concerned, online shopping

3:22is better than shopping in a store.

3:26The next phrase that you can use to express your

3:28opinion in English is the phrase, if you ask me,

3:31if you ask me, things are getting too expensive.

3:34If you ask me, food is too expensive.

3:36If you ask me, clothing is getting too expensive.

3:39When I express my opinions about the cost of

3:42things in the world, I can introduce it with

3:45the phrase, if you ask me. It's kind of

3:47an interesting one because no one's actually asked you.

3:51So you're kind of using an if clause

3:54to pretend that someone's asking you and then

3:58express your opinion in the response you give.

4:00I hope that made sense.

4:02So another way you can express your opinion

4:04is to say, if you ask me. If

4:06you ask me, everything is getting really expensive.

4:09I hope things become more affordable in the future.

4:12This next one is another phrase that starts with

4:15if, and it's the phrase, if I were you.

4:17This is when you give your opinion to someone

4:20who is asking for your opinion.

4:22Let's say a friend of yours is

4:23going to go somewhere on vacation.

4:26You might say, if I were you, I

4:27would buy my plane ticket sooner than later.

4:31If I were you, I would see if I could go on

4:34a Tuesday instead of a Saturday because flights would be cheaper.

4:38So someone is asking your opinion, and you phrase it with

4:42the if statement, if I were you. You're pretending that you

4:46are that person and you give them your opinion about the

4:49decision you would make if you were them.

4:51So if I were you, I would watch this video two times.

4:55When you watch the video twice, it really helps you remember

4:58what you've learned. The next way you can talk about your

5:01opinion is to start with the words for me.

5:04For me, it's really easy to exercise in the morning.

5:08For me, it's really difficult to

5:10exercise later in the day.

5:11I'm usually too tired.

5:13So I'm expressing my opinion about exercise, but

5:16I'm not saying it's true for everyone.

5:19I'm starting with the words for me

5:21so you know that this is how I feel about it.

5:24This is my opinion.

5:26For me, having a good night's sleep, getting

5:28up early in the morning, and going for

5:30a walk is the best way to exercise.

5:33For me, that works great.

5:34For someone else, it might not.

5:37So another way you can express your opinion is

5:39to start the sentence with the words for me.

5:42So this next one makes me laugh a little bit when I

5:44hear it, because I don't always know who they refers to

5:48if you express your opinion by starting a sentence with

5:51the words they say. They say the next Marvel movie

5:54is going to be the best Marvel movie ever made.

5:57They say that the next movie that Matt Damon is going

6:00to be in is going to be his best performance ever.

6:03When you start with they say, it kind of means

6:07you've read something about the thing you're talking about, or

6:11you were watching a news story about it.

6:13It doesn't always mean that I think some people

6:16use, they say just to express their own opinion.

6:20But if you've read about a movie and you're in

6:22a conversation about it, you could use those words.

6:25You could say, oh, they say that

6:26next movie is going to be amazing.

6:29Well, let's say you go see a movie and

6:31it's really good, or it's not really good, and

6:33you want to express your opinion about it.

6:35You could introduce your opinion with the phrase to

6:38be honest. You could say, to be honest, I

6:40didn't think the movie was very good.

6:42To be honest, I thought the

6:43special effects would have been better.

6:45To be honest, I don't think the movie was

6:48worth the money I paid for the ticket.

6:50So you're expressing your opinion, and you're introducing

6:53it with the phrase be honest, meaning that

6:56you're going to tell the truth.

6:57You're going to tell someone how

6:59you really feel about it.

7:00So, to be honest, I like it when I go to

7:03a movie, and after the movie, it's so good, I don't

7:06even think about how much I paid for it.

7:09The next phrase you can use to express

7:11your opinion, or to start expressing your opinion

7:13is the phrase, I'm pretty sure.

7:15And this is when you know something.

7:18If you know a certain singer who writes their own songs

7:21and you're in a conversation about that singer, you could say,

7:24I'm pretty sure she writes all her own songs.

7:27It means that you've probably read the Wikipedia

7:30article about that singer or you've done some

7:32reading to kind of back up your claim.

7:35So when you start something by saying,

7:37I'm pretty sure it means that you

7:39know it because you read it somewhere,

7:41and now that's your opinion.

7:43Another way to express your opinion if you don't think

7:46something's going to happen is the phrase, I doubt it.

7:49If you were to ask me if it's going

7:51to rain today, I've actually changed my opinion.

7:54I would probably respond and say, I doubt it.

7:56There isn't a cloud in the sky.

7:58I don't think it's going to rain anymore.

8:00So if someone's asking your opinion and you want to express

8:04in a negative way that you don't think something's going to

8:07happen, you can use the phrase I doubt it.

8:10Well, hey, thanks for watching this little lesson

8:12about how to express your opinion in English.

8:14I hope some of the phrases were familiar, and

8:16I hope some of them were new to you.

8:18And I hope you can use all of them in your

8:20next English conversation where you want to express your opinion.

8:23By the way, if this is your first time

8:25here, don't forget to click that red subscribe button.

8:27Give me a thumbs up.

8:28Leave a comment if you have some time.

8:30And if you want to learn a little bit

8:31more English, there's always more lessons to watch.

8:34And there's one right here and one right there. Bye.