Discussion resources
Mamen Nicolás Alba
Created on December 15, 2022
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Transcript
Resources for
DISCUSSIONS IN ENGLISH
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
11
Presenting arguments
Presenting the most important point
- The main thing is…
- The most important thing is…
- Primarily
- Most important
- First of all, …
- Firstly, …
- Well, firstly …
- begin with, …
- I’d start by …
- For a start, …
- There’re two points here. Firstly, … Secondly, …
- There are two problems here…. Moreover
- You also have to consider
- Also, ....
- § Again, that depends on …
- § In addition, …
- § What’s more, …
- § I might add that…
- § Perhaps I should also mention…
- § Not to mention the fact that …
- § Plus the fact that…
- § Not only that, but…
Agreeing
Expressing complete agreement
- Exactly!
- § Precisely!
- § Totally!
- § Absolutely!
- § That’s right!
- § Correct!
- § You’re right!
- § You’re so right!
- § That’s so true!
- § I couldn’t agree with you more!
- § I’m with you on that
- § That’s just what I was thinking!
- § That’s exactly what I think.
- § That’s a good point.
- § That’s just how I see it.
- § My feelings exactly.
- § I’ll say!
- § You can say that again!
- Yes, perhaps, however ...
- § Well, yes, but ...
- § Yes, in a way, however ...
- § Hmm, possibly, but ...
- § Yes, I agree up to a point, however ...
- § Well, you have a point there, but ...
- § There's something there, I suppose,
- however...
- § I guess you could be right, but ...
- § Yes, I suppose so, however ...
- § That's worth thinking about, but ...
- I’d agree with you if …
- § I’d certainly agree if you’re thinking of …
Disagreeing
Expressing complete disagreement
- I don’t think so!
- § I disagree
- § I disagree entirely.
- § I’m afraid I can’t agree.
- § I’m afraid you’re wrong
- § On the contrary!
- § Definitely not!
- § Rubbish!
- § Nonsense!
- § That’s ridiculous!
- § Never in a million years!
- Come off it!
- § Come on!
- § Do you really think so?
- § What!
- § You can’t actually mean that!
- § You can’t be serious!
- § Are you pulling my leg?
- § Are you kidding?
- § You must be kidding!
- That isn’t the point.
- § That’s highly debatable.
- § That’s highly unlikely.
- I wonder whether that’s the case.
- § Hmmm, I’m not sure about that..
- § I’m not sure (that) it works like that.
- § I’m not so sure about that.
- § I’m not so certain
- § Well, I’m not sure whether you can really …
- § Well, I don’t know…
- § Well, it depends…
- § I’m inclined to disagree with that…
Countering
Countering directly (through antithesis)
- But
- § But who can say that …?
- § But why …?
- § But if …
- § But surely, …
- Yes, but remember that
- § Yes, but it isn’t that …
- § That may be so, but …
- § That may be true, but …
- § That may be so, …
- § That might have been the case once, but …
- § Well, maybe they do, but …
- § You may be right about …, but ..
- § Maybe…But the problem is…
- § That’s a good idea, but…
- § That’s a good point, but…
- § I’d love to, but…
- § That would be great, except that…
- § That may be so, but…
- § Possibly, but…
- § …, but what I’m concerned with is…
- § …, but what I’m afraid of is…
- § …, but what bothers me is…
- § …, but what I don’t like is…
- § …, but what I’m concerned with is…
- … After all, …
- § At least there’s …
- § But at least…
- § Well, even so, …
Clarification
Asking someone to repeat
- Pardon me?
- § Pardon?
- § Excuse me?
- § Sorry?
- § I’m sorry?
- § I beg you pardon?
- § Could you say that again?
- § Would you repeat that please?
- § Would you mind repeating that please?
- § Sorry, what did you say?
- § Sorry, what was that?
- § What’s that again?
- You lost me there.
- § I’m lost.
- § I’m not following.
- § I don’t follow.
- § I didn’t get that.
- And are they right?
- § Does that make it ok?
- § Can you be a bit more specific?
- § Are you saying that …?.
- § Are we talking about …?
- What’s wrong with that?
- § What’s wrong with …?.
- § What do you mean?
- § What do you mean by …?
- § What are you trying to say?
- § In what way?
- § How do you mean?
- § Why do you say that?.
- § Why is that
- § Why not?
- § Can you explain why …?
- § Why do you think that?
- I’m talking about …
- § I’m saying that …
- § What I’m saying is that …
- § The whole point of this is that…
- § That’s what this discussion’s about.
- § I’m talking about …
- What I mean is…
- § What I meant is…
- § What I’m saying is…
- § What I’m trying to say is…
- § Don’t get me wrong…
- § Don’t misunderstand me…
- § Let me put it another way, …
- § That’s not what I said…
- § That’s not what I meant
- § What I said was…
- § What I really said/mean/meant…
- § You must have misunderstood me…
- § Let’s get it straight…
Conclusions
Generalizations
- Generally,…
- § In general, …
- § As a rule,…
- § Usually,
- § Typically,
- § By and large,
- § On average,
- § Generally speaking,
- § Speaking in general terms,…
Specific cases and exceptions
Interrupting
Illustrating a point
10
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Getting back to the point
- For example
- For instance
- Take for example
- A classic example of this is/would be
- To illustrate my point...
- Let me give you an example
- Just as an example, let me...
Polite interruptio
- § Sorry, but…
- § May I say something?
- § May I add something?
- § May I ask a question?
- § I’d like to say something about that
- Hold on
- § Hold on a second
- § Yes, I was about to mention that.
- § Well, I was about to come to th.t
- § Sorry, I haven’t finished yet
- § … I haven’t made my point yet
- § … I’m about to make my point
- § … I’m almost done
- § … If you could just give me a second
- § ... If you let me finish, I’ll tell you!
- § Please let me finish
- § Could you wait until I’m done?
- § I’m talking here!
- § Would you let me finish?
- § Would you hold on a second?
- Please
- § Go ahead
- § You first
- § Please, I can wait
- § It wasn’t all that relevant
- § It wasn’t important
- § Never mind.
Specific cases
- In that case
- § In that respect
- § If you are talking about…, then…
- § As far as that goes…
- § On that point…
- There are exceptions, of course…
- § One should mention, or course…
- § An exception to that is…
- § This does include…
- § Except of course…
- § One exception is…
- § Another exception is…
- To make a long story short,…
- § So in short,…
- § So you see…
- § So, finally,…
- § So,…
- § All in all,…
- § In the end,…
- § To conclude,…
- § To sum up,…
- § To summarize,…
- § Summing up, …
- § To put it simply,…
- § To put it in a few words, …
- § In a nutshell,…
- § In brief, …
- § To be brief,…
- Anyway
- § In any case,…
- § To return to…
- § Returning back to…
- § To get back to the point…
- § Let’s get back to the point…
- § Where was I?
- § What were we talking about?
Mamen Nicolás Alba
Resources for
DISCUSSIONS IN ENGLISH
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
11
Presenting arguments
Presenting the most important point
- The main thing is…
- The most important thing is…
- Primarily
- Most important
- First of all, …
- Firstly, …
- Well, firstly …
- begin with, …
- I’d start by …
- For a start, …
- There’re two points here. Firstly, … Secondly, …
- There are two problems here…. Moreover
- You also have to consider
- Also, ....
- § Again, that depends on …
- § In addition, …
- § What’s more, …
- § I might add that…
- § Perhaps I should also mention…
- § Not to mention the fact that …
- § Plus the fact that…
- § Not only that, but…
Agreeing
Expressing complete agreement
- Exactly!
- § Precisely!
- § Totally!
- § Absolutely!
- § That’s right!
- § Correct!
- § You’re right!
- § You’re so right!
- § That’s so true!
- § I couldn’t agree with you more!
- § I’m with you on that
- § That’s just what I was thinking!
- § That’s exactly what I think.
- § That’s a good point.
- § That’s just how I see it.
- § My feelings exactly.
- § I’ll say!
- § You can say that again!
- Yes, perhaps, however ...
- § Well, yes, but ...
- § Yes, in a way, however ...
- § Hmm, possibly, but ...
- § Yes, I agree up to a point, however ...
- § Well, you have a point there, but ...
- § There's something there, I suppose,
- however...
- § I guess you could be right, but ...
- § Yes, I suppose so, however ...
- § That's worth thinking about, but ...
- I’d agree with you if …
- § I’d certainly agree if you’re thinking of …
Disagreeing
Expressing complete disagreement
- I don’t think so!
- § I disagree
- § I disagree entirely.
- § I’m afraid I can’t agree.
- § I’m afraid you’re wrong
- § On the contrary!
- § Definitely not!
- § Rubbish!
- § Nonsense!
- § That’s ridiculous!
- § Never in a million years!
- Come off it!
- § Come on!
- § Do you really think so?
- § What!
- § You can’t actually mean that!
- § You can’t be serious!
- § Are you pulling my leg?
- § Are you kidding?
- § You must be kidding!
- That isn’t the point.
- § That’s highly debatable.
- § That’s highly unlikely.
- I wonder whether that’s the case.
- § Hmmm, I’m not sure about that..
- § I’m not sure (that) it works like that.
- § I’m not so sure about that.
- § I’m not so certain
- § Well, I’m not sure whether you can really …
- § Well, I don’t know…
- § Well, it depends…
- § I’m inclined to disagree with that…
Countering
Countering directly (through antithesis)
- But
- § But who can say that …?
- § But why …?
- § But if …
- § But surely, …
- Yes, but remember that
- § Yes, but it isn’t that …
- § That may be so, but …
- § That may be true, but …
- § That may be so, …
- § That might have been the case once, but …
- § Well, maybe they do, but …
- § You may be right about …, but ..
- § Maybe…But the problem is…
- § That’s a good idea, but…
- § That’s a good point, but…
- § I’d love to, but…
- § That would be great, except that…
- § That may be so, but…
- § Possibly, but…
- § …, but what I’m concerned with is…
- § …, but what I’m afraid of is…
- § …, but what bothers me is…
- § …, but what I don’t like is…
- § …, but what I’m concerned with is…
- … After all, …
- § At least there’s …
- § But at least…
- § Well, even so, …
Clarification
Asking someone to repeat
- Pardon me?
- § Pardon?
- § Excuse me?
- § Sorry?
- § I’m sorry?
- § I beg you pardon?
- § Could you say that again?
- § Would you repeat that please?
- § Would you mind repeating that please?
- § Sorry, what did you say?
- § Sorry, what was that?
- § What’s that again?
- You lost me there.
- § I’m lost.
- § I’m not following.
- § I don’t follow.
- § I didn’t get that.
- And are they right?
- § Does that make it ok?
- § Can you be a bit more specific?
- § Are you saying that …?.
- § Are we talking about …?
- What’s wrong with that?
- § What’s wrong with …?.
- § What do you mean?
- § What do you mean by …?
- § What are you trying to say?
- § In what way?
- § How do you mean?
- § Why do you say that?.
- § Why is that
- § Why not?
- § Can you explain why …?
- § Why do you think that?
- I’m talking about …
- § I’m saying that …
- § What I’m saying is that …
- § The whole point of this is that…
- § That’s what this discussion’s about.
- § I’m talking about …
- What I mean is…
- § What I meant is…
- § What I’m saying is…
- § What I’m trying to say is…
- § Don’t get me wrong…
- § Don’t misunderstand me…
- § Let me put it another way, …
- § That’s not what I said…
- § That’s not what I meant
- § What I said was…
- § What I really said/mean/meant…
- § You must have misunderstood me…
- § Let’s get it straight…
Conclusions
Generalizations
- Generally,…
- § In general, …
- § As a rule,…
- § Usually,
- § Typically,
- § By and large,
- § On average,
- § Generally speaking,
- § Speaking in general terms,…
Specific cases and exceptions
Interrupting
Illustrating a point
10
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat
Getting back to the point
- For example
- For instance
- Take for example
- A classic example of this is/would be
- To illustrate my point...
- Let me give you an example
- Just as an example, let me...
Polite interruptio
- § Sorry, but…
- § May I say something?
- § May I add something?
- § May I ask a question?
- § I’d like to say something about that
- Hold on
- § Hold on a second
- § Yes, I was about to mention that.
- § Well, I was about to come to th.t
- § Sorry, I haven’t finished yet
- § … I haven’t made my point yet
- § … I’m about to make my point
- § … I’m almost done
- § … If you could just give me a second
- § ... If you let me finish, I’ll tell you!
- § Please let me finish
- § Could you wait until I’m done?
- § I’m talking here!
- § Would you let me finish?
- § Would you hold on a second?
- Please
- § Go ahead
- § You first
- § Please, I can wait
- § It wasn’t all that relevant
- § It wasn’t important
- § Never mind.
Specific cases
- In that case
- § In that respect
- § If you are talking about…, then…
- § As far as that goes…
- § On that point…
- There are exceptions, of course…
- § One should mention, or course…
- § An exception to that is…
- § This does include…
- § Except of course…
- § One exception is…
- § Another exception is…
- To make a long story short,…
- § So in short,…
- § So you see…
- § So, finally,…
- § So,…
- § All in all,…
- § In the end,…
- § To conclude,…
- § To sum up,…
- § To summarize,…
- § Summing up, …
- § To put it simply,…
- § To put it in a few words, …
- § In a nutshell,…
- § In brief, …
- § To be brief,…
- Anyway
- § In any case,…
- § To return to…
- § Returning back to…
- § To get back to the point…
- § Let’s get back to the point…
- § Where was I?
- § What were we talking about?
Mamen Nicolás Alba