What phrases can you use to support your arguments in these ways? Brainstorm at least three phrases for each.
Personal experiences
Advantages
Certainty/ Emphasising/ Importance/ Strong opinions
Changes/ Predictions/ Trends
Clarifying/ Paraphrasing/ Restating
Comparing/ Contrasting
Conceding points/ Destroying possible arguments against/ Looking at both sides
Consequences/ Effects/ Results
Data/ Figures/ Generalising/ Statistics
Examples
Expert opinion/ Other people’s experience/ Quoting/ Things read or heard/ Sources
Use the key words below to help you.
Key words
Personal experiences
my
generally
have
Advantages
positive
main
great
Certainty/ Emphasising/ Importance/ Strong opinions
doubt
cannot
clear
obvious
Changes/ Predictions/ Trends
take
flatten
back
almost
Clarifying/ Paraphrasing/ Restating
other
way
brief
Comparing/ Contrasting
… er/ more…
same/ different
common
difference/ similarity
Conceding points/ Destroying possible arguments against/ Looking at both sides
although
accept
weakness
both
Consequences/ Effects/ Results
leads
result
because
consequence
Data/ Figures/ Generalising/ Statistics
number
quantify
figures
precise
Examples
good
with
give
instance
Expert opinion/ Quoting/ Things read or heard/ Sources/ Other people’s experiences
according
said
quote
read/ heard
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Suggested answers
Personal experiences
In my (limited) experience,…
I have (generally) found that…
I have (personal) experience of this.
Advantages
A positive aspect of this is…
The main/ greatest advantage of this is…
A great benefit of this is…
Certainty/ Emphasising/ Importance/ Strong opinions
There is no doubt that…
It cannot be denied that…
It is clear that…
It should be obvious that…
It seems clear to me that…
Changes/ Predictions/ Trends
grow/ increase/ climb/ rise
boom/ accelerate/ rocket/ take off
crash/ plummet/ dive
flatten out/ plateau/ bottom out
peak
dip
rebound/ bounce back/ pick up
could/ might/ probably/ very probably/ almost certainly/ definitely
Clarifying/ Paraphrasing/ Restating
In other words,…
To put that another way,…
In brief,…
Comparing/ Contrasting
… is (slightly/ quite a lot/ far)… er than…
… is (slightly/ quite a lot/ far)… er than…
… and… are completely identical/ exactly the same/ almost the same/ very similar/ quite different/ totally different
… and… have… in common
A striking/ An obvious/ A clear difference/ similarity between… and… is…
Conceding points/ Destroying possible arguments against/ Looking at both sides
Although it can be said that…,…
While I accept that…,….
You could say a weakness in this argument is.., but…
While there are both pros and cons,…
Consequences/ Effects/ Results
… (inevitably) leads to…
As a result,…
Because of this,…
A natural consequence of this is…
Data/ Figures/ Generalising/ Statistics
To put a number on that,…
To quantify that,…
Relevant figures include…
To be precise,…
Examples
A good illustration of this is…
I can explain what I mean with an example, which is…
To give an example of what I’m talking about…
For instance,…
Expert opinion/ Quoting/ Things read or heard/ Sources/ Other people’s experiences
According to…
… (once) said that…
As… said,….
A famous quote on this is…
I read/ heard something which said that…
I can’t remember exactly where I heard/ read this, but…
Test each other in pairs:
– Read out the sentences with the key words missing and see if your partner can fill the gaps
– Read out the key words and see if your partner can remember the sentences
– Read out the name of a function and help your partner make as many suitable phrases as possible
Hold a debate while looking at just the key words. Cross off any words you use during the debate, using different coloured pens for each person. The person who uses most words by the end of the debate is the winner.
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PDF for easy saving and printing: key words for supporting your arguments
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