Developing an argument 2

• Personal comment

There are many words and short phrases that come at the beginning of a sentence and help us to make a personal comment

Giving your own ideas From my point of view, In my opinion/view, Personally

Information you have heard Apparently, It seems that

Most people know this Clearly, Of course, Obviously

Good/ bad luck Luckily, Fortunately, Happily, Sadly, Unfortunately, Unhappily

You are being honest To be honest/frank, Actually Frankly

Fortunately, there are plenty of signs that Mexico mayfinally have reached a new level of political and economic maturity. (Global Business Magazine website)

'Frankly, I didn't know what I was going to do,' says Parkabout starting up his bank. 'I just wanted to replicate the services of firms in the U.S. I was making pretty good money at Merrill Lynch and I thought I could make more on my own.' (Asia Inc On-Line website)

Other words used to make a personal comment include: admittedly, coincidentally, curiously, incredibly, interestingly, ironically, naturally, paradoxically, predictably, significantly surprisingly unbelievably, understandably, unexpectedly.

If you want to give your ideas from one particular point of view you can use a phrase like: Technically (speaking), Scientifically (speaking), From a financial/technical point of view, etc

• Other linking words and phrases

Study this list of common linking words and phrases used in speech.

Giving the most important example or situation Especially, In particular, Above all

Correcting yourself I mean, Or rather

Supporting a previous statement After all

Changing the subject (informal) By the way. So, Anyway

Changing the subject (more formal) In relation to, As regards, Moving on to,

As far as... is concerned

Dismissing something/ Preparing to finish Anyway

• Structures to focus on important information

We can focus on important information with the structure The + noun + is. The second part of the sentence is usually a 'that' clause or a 'wh-' question (which, what, when, how, etc).

The thing is (that) the whole idea is just too risky.

The thing is, how much money will all this cost?

Nouns used with this structure include: answer, fact, point, problem, question, solution, thing, trouble, truth.

The question is, what are we going to do about it?

The trouble is (that) it's going to be very expensive.

We can focus on important information using a clause that begins with what:

What we need is a few days to think about this in more detail.

What I'm going to do is call our warehouse and see how many we have in stock.

What worries me is the time they're taking to make a decision

• At the end, in the end, at last.The phrases at the end, in the end and at last do not have the same meaning:

At the end refers to a point in time

/ spoke for 20 minutes, but there were a lot of questions at the end.

In the end means 'after a lot of time' or 'eventually'

/ waited until ten, and in the end I left.(+ past tense)

At last makes a comment that we are pleased now because a long wait has ended

At last I've finished this report! (+ present tense eg: present perfect)

Bear markets are a natural part of stocks, in the same way that fires are a natural force in the forests.

Even though it's tough to watch, the market is usually healthier in the end.(Wall Street Journal website)

• If, unless, otherwise

Conditionals with If are important for developing an argument. The linking words unless and otherwise have the meaning 'if not'. Look at the next three examples which all have the same meaning:

If we don'tpay the invoice now, they'llcut back our credit.

Unless we pay the invoice now, they'll cut back our credit.

We should pay the invoice now, otherwisethey'll cut back our credit.

What partners can the London Stock Exchange reach outto? A tie-up with Frankfurt probably won't happen, unless a radically different type of proposal canbe put together. (accountancy agewebsite)