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Getting back to the point
11
Conclusions
10
Specific cases and exceptions
8
Interrupting
7
Illustrating a point
6
Generalizations
Clarification
Countering
Disagreeing
Agreeing
Presenting arguments 
9
5
4
3
2
1
DISCUSSIONS IN ENGLISH
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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
Presenting a number of arguments
  • 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
Adding an argument
  • 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!
Agreeing in part
  • 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 ...
Expressing conditional agreement
  • 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!
Using irony to express disagreement
  • 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!
Dismissing an argument as irrelevant or improbable.
  • That isn’t the point.
  • § That’s highly debatable.
  • § That’s highly unlikely.
Disagreeing diplomatically (through doubt)
  • 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…
Disagreeing in part ( appeal to logic ) Not necessarily § That doesn’t necessarily follow. § That’s not necessarily true § That isn’t strictly true.

Countering

Countering directly (through antithesis)

  • But
  • § But who can say that …?
  • § But why …?
  • § But if …
  • § But surely, …
Countering politely (through agreement followed by antithesis)
  • Yes, but remember that
  • § Yes, but it isn’t that …
Countering politely (through partial agreement followed by antithesis)
  • § 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…
Countering using "after all" "at least" "even so" both for concession and antithesis
  • … 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?
When you can’t follow the logical progression in someone’s argument
  • You lost me there.
  • § I’m lost.
  • § I’m not following.
  • § I don’t follow.
  • § I didn’t get that.
Asking for clarification through short Yes/No Questions inviting illustration or example.
  • And are they right?
  • § Does that make it ok?
  • § Can you be a bit more specific?
  • § Are you saying that …?.
  • § Are we talking about …?
Clarification through "What" or "How" Questions inviting illustration or example
  • 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?
Giving clarification / Reiteration through reference to subject
  • 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 …
Giving clarification after misunderstanding
  • 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
Holding the floor
  • 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?
When two people start speaking at the same time
  • 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…
Exceptions
  • 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
Presenting a number of arguments
  • 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
Adding an argument
  • 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!
Agreeing in part
  • 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 ...
Expressing conditional agreement
  • 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!
Using irony to express disagreement
  • 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!
Dismissing an argument as irrelevant or improbable.
  • That isn’t the point.
  • § That’s highly debatable.
  • § That’s highly unlikely.
Disagreeing diplomatically (through doubt)
  • 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…
Disagreeing in part ( appeal to logic ) Not necessarily § That doesn’t necessarily follow. § That’s not necessarily true § That isn’t strictly true.

Countering

Countering directly (through antithesis)

  • But
  • § But who can say that …?
  • § But why …?
  • § But if …
  • § But surely, …
Countering politely (through agreement followed by antithesis)
  • Yes, but remember that
  • § Yes, but it isn’t that …
Countering politely (through partial agreement followed by antithesis)
  • § 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…
Countering using "after all" "at least" "even so" both for concession and antithesis
  • … 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?
When you can’t follow the logical progression in someone’s argument
  • You lost me there.
  • § I’m lost.
  • § I’m not following.
  • § I don’t follow.
  • § I didn’t get that.
Asking for clarification through short Yes/No Questions inviting illustration or example.
  • And are they right?
  • § Does that make it ok?
  • § Can you be a bit more specific?
  • § Are you saying that …?.
  • § Are we talking about …?
Clarification through "What" or "How" Questions inviting illustration or example
  • 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?
Giving clarification / Reiteration through reference to subject
  • 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 …
Giving clarification after misunderstanding
  • 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
Holding the floor
  • 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?
When two people start speaking at the same time
  • 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…
Exceptions
  • 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

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