Strong & Weak Opinions

Strong or weak opinions simplest responses

Without looking at the list below, listen to your teacher and raise the “Strong” card or the “Weak” card that you have been given depending on the meaning/ function of each phrase you hear. Strong positive and strong negative phrases are both “Strong”.

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Label the sections below with S for Strong and W for Weak.

 

(I’ve never heard such) (complete and utter) rubbish.

(That’s utterly) ridiculous.

Any idiot can see that…

Are you crazy?/ Are you out of your mind?

 

Are you joking?/ Are you kidding?/ Are you pulling my leg?

Far from it.

To be perfectly frank,…

I can’t accept that.

 

As far as I know,…

Fair enough.

I agree up to a point, but…

I can accept that.

 

I couldn’t agree with you more.

I really don’t think so.

I strongly believe that…

I’d definitely say that…

 

I’d go even further and say…

I’m (absolutely) certain that…

I’m (entirely) convinced that…

I’m positive that…

 

In your dreams!/ You’re living in a dream world.

Nonsense.

Quite right.

Quite the opposite.

 

I don’t really think so.

I might change my mind later, but…

I wouldn’t quite put it that way myself.

I’m fairly confident that…

 

I’m no expert (on this), but…

I’m not sure I’m the right person to ask, but…

My initial reaction is…

 

 

So true, so true.

That answers all my questions.

That’s clearly not the case.

That’s exactly the way I see it.

 

Off the top of my head,…

That view is somewhat old fashioned.

To the best of my knowledge,…

 

That’s just the point I was trying to make.

That’s just what I was going to say.

That’s not the case at all./ That’s quite simply not the case.

There is no way on earth I can accept that.

 

Well, you know more about this than me, but…

With some reservations, I’m going to accept that.

You could say that.

 

Without (a shadow of) a doubt,…

You can say that again.

You can’t say that.

 

You cannot be serious./ Seriously?

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Your argument is full of holes. For example,…/ The first of many problems with that argument is…

Check your answers, then test each other with the same raising cards game.

Underline words above that can be added to make opinions stronger or weaker.

Label the sections of key words below with S or W in the same way as above 

bit

fair/ fairly

guess

humble/ humbly

 

absolute/ absolutely

all

any/ not any

at all

 

can’t

certain/ certainly

clear/ clearly

complete/ completely

imagine

little

may

might

 

definite/ definitely

entire/ entirely

exact/ exactly

far/ further

 

frank/ frankly/ honest/ honestly

I do…

lot

never

 

obvious/ obviously

perfect/ perfectly

plain/ plainly

positive/ positively

 

look/ seem/ sound

some/ somewhat

suppose

 

precisely

really (not)

serious/ seriously

simple/ simply

 

so

strongly

sure/ surely

utter/ utterly

 

vast

very

wholehearted

 

not much

not really

not yet

nugget

 

okay

possible/ possibly

reckon

 

Choose one of the topics below. Start with one of you arguing strongly for and one of you arguing strongly against and try to slowly move together in some way, e.g. by one of you being convinced or by you both finding a compromise position.

• Raising VAT (= consumption tax).
• Changing the starting date of universities.
• The government certifying restaurants abroad serving authentic food from your country.
• Increasing legal immigration.
• Teaching other school subjects in English.
• Starting school younger.
• A single national university entrance test.
• Moving to teaching more Chinese (instead of or as well as teaching English).
• More financial incentives to have children.
• A legal minimum number of female MPs.
• A legal minimum number of female board members in large companies.
• Scrapping all nuclear power.
• Banning anonymous online comments.
• “Media” as a school subject.
• (More) government money for the making of movies in your country/ local area.
• More emphasis on teaching creativity in schools.
• Introducing the death penalty./ Scrapping the death penalty.

 

Cards for students to hold up

Copy and cut out one of each card per student

Strong	Weak
Strong	Weak
Strong	Weak
Strong	Weak
Strong	Weak
Strong	Weak