Useful Debate Vocabulary

Stating an opinion
• In our opinion...
•We (don’t) think that…
•The way we see it...
• If you want our honest opinion....
•According to me... X According to the other side/ our opponents…
•As far as I'm concerned...
•Our position is the following…

Sequencing :
• Firstly…, secondly…, our third point is that…
• The first good reason to… is that… ; next ; what’s more ; moreover….
• To begin, we think that… ; in addition, you have to know that… ; last but not
least….
• The first point I would like to raise is this…
• Here’s the main point I want to raise…
• I’d like to deal with two points here. The first is…

“I’m listening to the other side.”

• I see your point, but I think…
• Yes, I understand, but my opinion is that…
• That’s all very interesting, but the problem is that…
• I’m afraid I can’t quite agree with your point.
• I think I’ve got your point, now let me respond to it.
• We can see what you’re saying. Here’s my reply…

Disagreeing :
• Excuse me, but that’s not quite correct.
• Sorry, I just have to disagree with your point.
• Let me just respond to that, please.
• I’d like to take issue with what you just said.
• We said that… but the other side has not replied to our point.
• I’d like to focus on two points that the other side has failed to address.
• There are two issues our opponents have failed to dispute, namely…
• We pointed out that…
• Our opponents have claimed that…
• To recap the main points…
• Let’s sum up where we stand in this debate.
• In summary, we want to point out that…
Themes

 America should be able to provide foreign aid to countries that kill endangered
animals.
 It is never appropriate for the government to restrict freedom of speech.
 Democracy is the best form of government.
 All citizens who do not vote should pay a fine.
 The right to bear arms is a necessary constitutional amendment.
 Progressive tax rates are unfair.
 The voting age should be lowered.
 The driving age should be raised.
 A border fence should be constructed between U.S. and Mexico.
 Drone attacks against specific targets are a necessary part of modern warfare.
 What is the difference between responsibility and culpability?

Controversies in English Language

 Generic you – e.g. "Brushing your teeth is a good habit." as opposed to

"Brushing one's teeth is a good habit"
 Flat adverbs – e.g. "Drive safe." as opposed to "Drive safely."
 Split infinitives – e.g. "To boldly go where no man has gone before." as
opposed to "To go boldly where no man has gone before"
 Conjunction beginning a sentence – e.g. "But Mom said not to jump on the
bed!"
 Double genitive – e.g. "a friend of theirs" as opposed to "a friend of them" or
"their friend"
 Using "me" vs. "I" in the subject complement ("It's me." as opposed to "It's I." or
"It is I.") or other cases - e.g. "Me and Bob" vs. "Bob and I". It's me again.
 Using "I" vs. "me" in the oblique case. e.g. "He gave the ball to Bob and I"
instead of "He gave the ball to Bob and me". This is often called
a hypercorrection, since it is perceived as related to avoidance of the
stigmatized incorrect use of the oblique form.
 The validity of aren't as a negative first-person singular conjunction for to be in
interrogative uses – e.g. "Aren't I the one you were talking about?"
 Whether to use the subjunctive mood – e.g. "I wish I were/was a better man."
 Whether to use who or whom in various contexts.
 The use of less or fewer with count nouns.
 Double negatives – e.g. "We don't need no education."
 Certain double modals – e.g. "You might could use it." - not considered
standard, but used for example in Southern American English.
 Double copula – e.g. "What has to happen is is that the money has to come
from somewhere."
 Ending a sentence with a preposition – e.g. "You have nothing to be afraid of."
vs. "You have nothing of which to be afraid.", was first criticized by
grammarians in the 1600s by analogy with Latin grammar and some teachers
since, though many have always accepted it as part of standard English.
 Order of quoted punctuation marks, i.e. American style (e.g. "Many dreams
were characterized as 'raw,' 'powerful,' and 'evocative.'") vs. British style (e.g.
'Many dreams were characterized as "raw", "powerful", and "evocative".').
Some American authorities such as the APA and CMS require the former, while
others either allow, prefer, or require the latter (such as the LSA).
 A dangling modifier is an ambiguous grammatical construct, whereby
a grammatical modifier could be misinterpreted as being associated with a word
other than the one intended or with no particular word at all. For example, a
writer may have meant to modify the subject, but word order makes the modifier
seem to modify an object instead. Such ambiguities can lead to unintentional
humor or difficulty in understanding a sentence in formal contexts. Example: At
the age of eight, my family finally bought a dog, the modifier At the age of
eight "dangles", not attaching to the subject of the main clause (and possibly
implying that the family was eight years old when it bought the dog, or even that
the dog was eight when it was bought, rather than the intended meaning of
giving the narrator's age at the time).
 people still mix up — and sometimes argue — over what situations require
"hung" and which ones require "hanged." The latter works when describing
executions and suicide, while the former works pretty much anywhere else.

See more: http://www.onlinecollege.org/the-20-most-controversial-rules-in-the-

grammar-world/