Paper

“Agreement, Disagreement, Giving

Opinions, and Giving Suggestions”

Compiled by :
 Faizul Praja
 Kiki Bayhaki
 Victor™
 Zulfikar

Class : XI M 1
Grup : 7

DINAS PENDIDIKAN KOTA BATAM

SEKOLAH MENENGAH KEJURUAN NEGERI 1 BATAM
Jln. Prof. Dr. Hamka 1 Batu Aji – Batam Telp/Fax : (0778) 365904

AGREEMENT
In agreeing with an unfavourable opinion, you may wish to qualify your
agreement with an expression of regret, etc.

I Yes, I am afraid it was.

His speech was boring I have to agree that it was.
I must say I found it so.

In other cases, you can be as enthusiastic as you like in emphasizing

your agreement.

It was an interesting exhibition, wasn’t it? – Yes, it was superb/absolutely

splendid!
A referendum will satisfy everybody. – Yes, definitely/quite/absolutely/I
absolutely agree/I couldn’t agree more/I quite agree/ I agree entirely.

A referendum will not satisfy everybody. – Definitely not/It certainly won’t/You

are absolutely right, it won’t/ I agree that it won’t.

It’s good practice and it’s good fun. – Exactly.

I feel I ought to give her a hand – Oh, quite, quite.
I must do something, though – Yes, I quite agree.
There is far too much attention being paid to these hoodlums – Yes I couldn’t
agree more.
The public showed that by the way it voted in the General election – That’s
quite true.
We reckon that this is what THEY would have wanted us to do. – I think you
are absolutely right.

You can show that you agree strongly with someone’s description of
something by repeating the adjective they have used and using "very" in front
of it. You usually use “indeed” after the adjective.

It was very tragic, wasn’t it – Very tragic indeed.

The pacing in all these performances is subtle, isn’t – Oh, very subtle,
indeed.

Other ways of expressing agreement are:

That’s just what I was thinking.

You know, that’s exactly what I think.
That’s a good point.

Partial agreement.

If you agree with someone, but not entirely or with reluctance, you can reply “I
suppose so”.
I must have a job – I suppose so.
That’s the way to save lives, and save us a lot of trouble? – I suppose so.

If you are replying to a negative statement, you say, “I suppose not”.

Some of these places haven’t changed it – I suppose not.

Qualified agreement

In discussion and argument, there is often a need to agree with one aspect of
a speaker’s view, and to disagree with another. Here are some of the
methods you might use to express this sort of qualified agreement:

Certainly it’s true that …, but on the other hand…

I can see that…. But surely…
I am in total agreement with you about… but we also have to consider….
Agreed, BUT if we accept… then it must also be true that…

Corroboration

We can also agree, and add a further point to corroborate or confirm the
argument
Yes, and in fact….
Yes, and what is more…
I agree, and in fact one might go so far as to say…
Absolutely. Actually, I would go further, and say…

DISAGREEMENT

Notice that you need to be very polite when disagreeing with someone in
English – even someone you know quite well. When you deny or contradict
what someone else has stated, the effect is often impolite, unless the denial is
qualified in some way. You can qualify it by an apology or by adjusting to the
speaker’s point of view:

English is a difficult language to learn.

-I am afraid I disagree with you: some languages are even more difficult, I
think.
Or
- TRUE, but the grammar is quite easy.
Or
-Yes, but it’s not so difficult as Russian.
Or
-Do you think so? Actually, I find it quite easy.

The commonest ways to express disagreement are as follows:

Yes, that’s quite true, but…
I’m not sure I quite agree.
Well, you have a point there, but…
Perhaps, but I don’t think that…
I see what you mean, but…

Rather than simply expressing complete disagreement, people usually try to

disagree politely using expressions, which soften the contradictory opinion
they are giving "I don’t think so" and "Not really" are the most common of
these expressions.

It was a lot of money in those days – Well, not really.

It’s all over now, anyway. – No, I am afraid I can’t agree with you there.

People often say “Yes” or “I see what you mean”, to indicate partial
agreement and then go on to mention a point of disagreement, introduced by
“but”.

You’ve just said yourself that you got fed up with it after a time. - Yes, but only
after three weeks.
It’s a very clever film. – Yes, perhaps, but I didn’t like it.
They ruined the whole thing. – I see what you mean, but they didn’t know.

Strong disagreement

If you know someone very well you can disagree more directly using
expressions like these:

I can’t agree with you there.

You can’t be serious!
Come off it!
Don’t be silly!

You should be very careful when using them, in order to avoid offending
people.

That’s very funny – No, it isn’t.

You were the one who wanted to buy it – I am sorry, dear, but you are wrong.

More formal ways

University education does divide families in a way – I cannot go along with

that.
There would be less guilt which characterized societies of earlier generations.
– well I think I would take issue with that

When it comes to the state of this country, he should keep his mouth shut – I
wholly and totally disagree.
He wants it, and I suppose he has a right to it – Rubbish.
He said you plotted to get him removed - that’s ridiculous.
Learning to express agreement and/or disagreement with someone’s views
and opinions can be part of assertion training, which has gained increasing
recognition in recent years. Its aim is to help people express themselves more
effectively and appropriately.

The following three types of behavior are identified:

1. Non-assertive behaviour – failing to express your feelings, needs,

opinions, or preferences, or expressing them in an indirect or implicit way. For
example, agreeing to activities you are not really interested in or failing to ask
for a favour even though one is needed/ Statements like “I suppose we could
go to the cinema”, or “I wish I knew someone who could help me repair my
car” represent indirect or implicit statements in which the other person must
infer what the needs and opinions of the speaker really are. One difficulty with
this type of communication is that it is open to varying interpretations and is
therefore easily misunderstood.

2. Aggressive behaviour – expressing your feelings or opinions but in a

punishing, threatening, demanding or hostile manner. There is little or no
consideration of the feelings or rights of the other person. In addition, the
person who behaves aggressively assumes little responsibility for the
consequences of his/her action.
E.g. You’d better lend me $5.
You are going with me whether you like it or not.

3. Assertive behaviour – expressing your feelings, needs, legitimate rights or

opinions honestly and directly without being aggressive to others, without
infringing on their rights and without expecting the other person to read your
mind. Assertive behaviour is not designed primarily to enable an individual to
obtain what he/she wants. Rather its purpose is the clear, direct and
inoffensive communication of one’s needs opinions and so on. To the extent
that this is accomplished, the probability of achieving one’s goals without
denying the rights of others increases.

USEFUL EXPRESSIONS TO EXPRESS YOUR OPINION

In my opinion, ... In my eyes, ...
To my mind, ... As far as I am concerned, ... Speaking personally, ...
From my point of view, ... As for me / As to me, ...
My view / opinion / belief / impression / conviction is that ... I hold the view that ...
I would say that ... It seems to me that ... I am of the opinion that ...
My impression is that ... I am under the impression that ... it is myimpression that
I have the feeling that ... My own feeling on the subject is that ...
I have no doubt that ... I am sure / I am certain that ...
I think / consider / find / feel / believe / suppose / presume / assume that ...
I hold the opinion that ... (I form / adopt an opinion.) I dare say that ...
I guess that ... I bet that .... I gather that ...
It goes without saying that ... I think people should... I don’t think people should...
People shouldn’t ...... I don’t think............. is a good idea.
In my opinion, people should(n’t).....
From my point of view, __________ is(n’t) a good idea.
I can see/understand _______, but I can’t see/understand ______.
I don’t think people should be allowed to ......

USEFUL WORDS TO EXPRESS YOUR AGREEMENT

I agree with you / him ... I share your view. I think

so.
I really think so.
(The author / the narrator / the protagonist / etc.) is right
He is quite right / absolutely right He may be right.
I have no objection. I approve of it. I
have come to the same conclusion I hold the same opinion. We
are of one mind / of the same mind on that question.
I am at one with him on that point. It is
true. That is right.
That's just it ! Fair
enough ! Quite so !
Just so ! Yes of course !
 USEFUL WORDS TO EXPRESS YOUR DISAGREEMENT

I don't agree. I disagree. I

don't think so.
You are / he is wrong. I think otherwise. I
don't think that's quite right.
I don't agree with you/him. I don't agree with what you
say. I am afraid that is not quite true.
I take a different view. I don't share his/her/your
view. This argument does not hold water.
Not at
all ! Nonsense ! Rubbish !
He's off his head !