Giving your opinion

It is very important to show people when you are saying an opinion and show that it is not a fact. Giving an opinion as a fact is considered to be not very polite by some people.

I reckon...
I'd say...
Personally, I think...
What I reckon is...
If you ask me...
The way I see it...
As far as I'm concerned...
If you don't mind me saying...
I'm utterly convinced that...
In my humble opinion...

Explanations

• We follow all the phrases with a sentence or clause that shows the speaker's opinion.
• Phrases 1 - 3 are really quite informal. You can use these phrases when you are discussing something with friends or people who you know well.
• In phrase 1, 'reckon' is a very common word in the UK today. It means 'I think' but British people use the word 'reckon' much more often than 'think'.
• Phrases 5, 6 and 7 are all quite polite and show clearly that the statement is only an opinion.
• Phrase 8 is more polite because it says to the other speaker that they might not agree with what you are saying.
• Phrase 9 shows a very strong opinion. The speaker has no doubt at all that it is true.
• Phrase 10 is the most polite expression of the ten. It is often written on the Internet as the abbreviation 'IMHO' or 'imho'.