How to Express Your Opinion in English Depending on the Situation

There are all kinds of ways to introduce an opinion, from casual to formal, short and sweet to more wordy and elaborate; there are even some funny alternatives, too.

Beth Taylor

04 Mar 2024

It’s crucial to be able to express your opinion, whether it be for comparing thoughts with friends, sharing your ideas in a professional context, or giving an opinion on other serious matters. Your view counts, so you should know how to share it.

The importance of expressing opinion in English

Giving an opinion allows you to express your thoughts and beliefs on various topics. This fosters dialogue, encourages critical thinking, and promotes understanding among individuals with diverse perspectives. It serves as a means of communication, enabling individuals to contribute to discussions, debates, and decision-making processes. When offering an opinion, you can draw from personal experiences, knowledge, values, and reasoning to convey a viewpoint.

There are all kinds of ways to introduce an opinion, from casual to formal, short and sweet to more wordy and elaborate; there are even some funny alternatives, too.

If you’re keen to express your opinion in English but can’t quite get your head around all the different sayings or simply don’t know where to start, then maybe a tutor might be the right path for you.

Taking lessons to learn to give your opinion in English offers many invaluable benefits. Firstly, the personalized attention from tutors ensures effective one-on-one learning. With LiveXP English tutors, your progress is the top priority. Secondly, the flexible scheduling, rescheduling, and cancellation of lessons offered by LiveXP can accommodate a busy lifestyle, ensuring consistent learning. Thirdly, exposure to tutors with diverse accents from around the world enriches your understanding and adaptability to various English-speaking contexts. Being able to learn with multiple tutors simultaneously under one subscription will broaden your learning experience and offer different perspectives.

Alongside lessons, you should try boosting your English skills by playing games or using fun mobile apps, for example, LiveXP’s Word Trainer. The Word Trainer app goes hand in hand with private tutoring on LiveXP, as you can enter any new vocabulary you learn during lessons into the app. The Word Trainer facilitates efficient vocabulary acquisition and phrase memorization through the spaced repetition method, enhancing your language proficiency effectively. There are even pre-made word sets covering a range of basic everyday topics to get you started.

Opinion words

There are different ways to say “in my opinion,” so let’s start with the simplest and easiest to remember. Despite their simplicity, these are by no means poor choices and can indeed be used to express your thoughts clearly and effectively on any matter.

I think…
I believe…
It seems to me…
I feel…
I suppose…

What to say instead of “in my opinion”

If you’re looking for more complex alternatives, here are some great phrases that you can use to give your opinion:

From my point of view…
From my perspective…
In my eyes…
It is my belief that…
Speaking for myself…
As far as I am aware…
If you ask me…

How to express opinions effectively

The most effective way to give an opinion is to be confident and self-assured when expressing it. You can do this by using phrases that show certainty or add sincerity:

I am sure that…
I am certain that…
I am convinced that…
I am confident that…
It is clear to me that…
I genuinely believe that…
I strongly believe that…
I truly believe that…

Examples of ways to give an opinion

I believe that incorporating mindfulness practices into daily routines can significantly improve mental well-being and overall quality of life.

I suppose that he didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have looked so upset about it.

If you ask me, they’re not going to renew that series because everyone stopped watching after the third episode.

It is clear to me that investing in employee training and development leads to higher job satisfaction, increased productivity, and, ultimately, improved company performance.

I am certain that implementing a customer feedback system will enhance our understanding of client needs and lead to more tailored and successful product offerings.

I genuinely believe that we are doing the right thing by stepping in now before the situation gets out of hand.

Formal expression of opinion

When expressing opinions, it isn’t necessary to differentiate between levels of formality from a politeness point of view. However, when writing or speaking in a more formal context, you may want to use more sophisticated language to elevate your English. Here are some great examples of more complex sentences for sharing your opinion:

I am of the view that…
I’m inclined to think that…
As far as I'm concerned…
It’s my contention that…

Formal examples of expressing opinions

It’s my contention that implementing stricter environmental policies is imperative for safeguarding our planet’s future.

I am of the view that diversifying our product line to include eco-friendly options aligns with current market trends and presents a lucrative opportunity for growth and differentiation in the industry.

As far as I’m concerned, the new policy on flexible working hours is a step in the right direction.

How to state your opinion with humor

Finally, if you want to lower the formality or add humor, you can try some of these expressions to give your opinion.

Give your two cents

The phrase “give your two cents” or “put in your two cents” most likely came about as a figurative way of offering an opinion or giving advice. It suggests providing a small contribution to a conversation or discussion, similar to giving two cents’ worth. This phrase emphasizes the idea that everyone’s perspective is valued, even if it may not be extensive or significant.

I’m going to give my two cents: the movie would’ve been better if they had cast a different lead actor.

In my humble opinion

The phrase “in my humble opinion” has been around for a long time but has gained popularity in online communication through the abbreviation “IMHO” in recent years. It is used to preface a statement or viewpoint with the implication that the speaker is expressing their opinion modestly or with humility. Essentially, it’s a way of softening an opinion, recognizing that others may see things differently or that the speaker may not have all the facts.

IMHO, she suits blonde hair more than red.

To add more humor, you could reverse the common expression and instead say, “in my not-so-humble opinion.” This would be used when you’re about to give an unpopular or controversial opinion that you are willing to defend.

In my not-so-humble opinion, this pizza sucks, we should’ve ordered from the place around the corner.

In my expert opinion

Another way to add a touch of light-heartedness to your statement would be to claim to know more about the subject than anybody else, for example: “In my expert opinion,” “speaking as the reigning authority on all things (topic),” or “as the most experienced person in the room.”