Giving Opinions ESL Activities, Games & Worksheets
I think that...
ESL Giving Opinions Activity - Speaking: Gap-Fill, Forming Sentences, Asking and Answering Questions, Communicative Practice - Pair Work
Here is a free giving opinions and reasons activity to help students practice phrases for giving opinions, adjectives of opinion, 'why' and 'because'. In pairs...
In my Opinion
ESL Giving Opinions Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Writing Sentences, Sentence Completion - Speaking Activity: Freer Practice - Pair Work
This comprehensive giving opinions worksheet helps students learn and practice how to give opinions using three positive and negative phrases. Students...
Really?
ESL Giving Opinions Game - Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, True or False - Group Work
In this fun giving opinions game, students give true or false opinions about famous people or things. In groups, players take turns picking up a card and placing it face-up on the desk. Next, the student on the...
European Vacation
ESL Giving Opinions and Prioritizing Activity - Speaking: Discussion, Communicative Practice, Presenting - Pair Work
In this communicative giving opinions activity, students share opinions, prioritise, and agree on a list of items to pack for a European holiday. First, in pairs, students give their opinions on the things they...
Four Corners
ESL Giving and Defending Opinions Activity - Speaking: Discussions, Explaining, Reporting, Refuting, Communicative Practice - Group Work
In this free giving and defending opinions speaking activity, students practice expressing and defending their opinions. Place a sign in each corner...
How to improve your English
ESL Giving Opinions Activity - Speaking: Ranking Items, Discussion, Controlled and Freer Practice - Pair Work
In this useful giving opinions speaking activity, students ask for and express opinions on ways to improve their English. First, students rank 15 ways to improve their English (1 is the most useful and 15 is the...
Our Opinions
ESL Expressing Opinions Activity - Speaking: Asking and Answering Questions, Discussion, Summarising - Pair and Group Work
In this insightful expressing opinions speaking activity, students practice giving, explaining and summarizing opinions. First, students read questions and write...
Rant or Rave
ESL Giving Opinions Game - Speaking: Impromptu Speech, Communicative Practice - Group Work
In this entertaining giving opinions game, students rant or rave about various topics using positive or negative opinion adjectives. In groups, players take turns picking up a topic card and placing it...
What's your Opinion?
ESL Giving Opinions Activity - Speaking: Gap-fill, Asking and Answering Questions, Writing Sentences - Pair Work
In this enjoyable giving opinions speaking activity, students ask for and share opinions on school subjects. First, students complete questions with different school subjects from a box or using their own...
Controversial Statements
ESL Giving and Justifying Opinions Activity - Speaking: Discussions, Communicative Practice - Group Work
In this engaging giving and justifying opinions speaking activity, students express and justify opinions by arguing for or against a set of controversial statements. Working alone, students read statements...
Explain Yourself
ESL Giving Opinions Activity - Speaking: Sentence Completion, Guessing, Asking Questions, Discussions, Communicative Practice - Group Work
In this communicative giving opinions activity, students practice giving opinions and asking embedded questions to gain more information. In groups...
It's Debatable
ESL Giving Opinions Activity - Speaking: Debating, Communicative Practice - Group Work
In this free debating activity, students participate in a debate to help them practice phrases for giving opinions, disagreeing and giving counterarguments. In competing groups, students write a...
My Opinion
ESL Giving Opinions and Persuading Activity - Speaking: Discussions, Persuading, Communicative Practice - Group Work
In this rewarding giving opinions speaking activity, students express opinions on controversial statements and try to persuade others with differing opinions to change their minds. In groups, students...
Using Giving Opinions Language
Giving opinions in English means using specific phrases and expressions to share your point of view, such as 'I think that...', 'In my opinion...', 'As far as I'm concerned...', and 'I strongly believe that...'. Students who only use 'I think' for every situation miss the range of language English uses to signal how strongly they feel, whether they are hedging politely or stating something with conviction, and that flatness makes their spoken and written communication sound far less natural than it should.
This page covers giving opinions across A2, B1, and B2 levels, with thirteen activities including pair speaking tasks, group discussion activities, a classroom movement activity, and a full debating activity, with three resources available as free downloads.
The table below maps the most common English expressions for giving, asking for, and responding to opinions by function, so teachers and students can see at a glance how the language moves from a tentative personal view to a confident disagreement.
| Function | Phrase or Expression | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Stating a personal opinion | I think that... / I believe that... | 'I think that social media does more harm than good.' |
| Giving a stronger opinion | I strongly believe that... / I'm convinced that... | 'I'm convinced that electric cars are the future.' |
| Hedging an opinion | I tend to think that... / I would say that... | 'I would say that working from home has its advantages.' |
| Giving a formal opinion | In my opinion... / In my view... / As far as I'm concerned... | 'In my opinion, public transport should be free.' |
| Asking for someone's opinion | What do you think about...? / What's your view on...? | 'What do you think about the new policy?' |
| Agreeing with an opinion | I agree with you. / I think so too. / Absolutely. | 'I agree with you. It's a real problem.' |
| Partially agreeing | I see your point, but... / That's true, but... | 'I see your point, but I think there are other factors.' |
| Disagreeing politely | I'm not sure I agree. / I don't think that... / I see it differently. | 'I'm not sure I agree. The evidence suggests otherwise.' |
| Disagreeing strongly | I completely disagree. / I don't agree at all. | 'I completely disagree. That approach has never worked.' |
When to Use Giving Opinions Language
Starting a discussion or conversation: When you want to open a topic up for debate or invite others to engage with your point of view, leading with 'In my opinion...' or 'I think that...' signals clearly that what follows is a personal position and not a statement of fact, as in 'In my opinion, remote work is better for productivity.'
Disagreeing without causing offence: When someone states an opinion you disagree with, English speakers soften the disagreement by partly acknowledging the other person's view before redirecting, as in 'I see your point, but I think the data tells a different story.'
Making your level of certainty clear: When you want to signal that your opinion is tentative rather than fixed, hedging expressions let you share a view without overstating your confidence, as in 'I tend to think that a shorter working week would improve wellbeing, but I could be wrong.'
3-Step Framework for Teaching Giving Opinions Language
1. Introduce the Range of Opinion Phrases: Start by getting students to see that English has more than one way to give an opinion, and that the choice of phrase signals attitude as well as content. A worksheet that moves students through positive and negative forms works well here. Students write their own opinions using target phrases and then immediately practice flipping them into disagreement, for example turning a positive statement into 'I don't think that reading is boring.' That contrast between agreeing and disagreeing forms locks in both sides of the language at once.
2. Push for Fluency with Opinion Adjectives: Once students have the phrases, the next challenge is producing opinions quickly and confidently without defaulting to a single safe expression. A card game where students must speak about a topic for a full minute using as many opinion adjectives as possible puts that fluency under pressure in a memorable way. The scoring mechanic rewards range: students earn one point for each appropriate opinion adjective they use during their rant or rave, so the game pushes students to reach beyond their comfort zone naturally.
3. Build towards Justifying and Defending Opinions: The highest-level challenge is not just stating an opinion but sustaining and defending it when others push back. A structured group discussion where two students argue 'for' and two argue 'against' a controversial statement gives every student a position to defend, which forces them to use justification language rather than simply restating what they think.
Common Mistakes with Giving Opinions Language
Using 'I am agree' instead of 'I agree': Students often treat 'agree' as an adjective rather than a verb, adding 'am' as if it works like 'I am happy', which produces a form that no native speaker would use. Wrong: 'I am agree with your opinion about climate change.' Correct: 'I agree with your opinion about climate change.'
Using 'according to me' instead of 'in my opinion': Students often translate directly from their first language and produce 'according to me' to introduce a personal opinion, which sounds unnatural in English because 'according to' signals an external source rather than a personal view. Wrong: 'According to me, the government should invest more in education.' Correct: 'In my opinion, the government should invest more in education.'
Common Questions About Teaching Giving Opinions Language
What is a fun game for practicing giving opinions?
In the game Really?, students give a true or false opinion about a famous person or thing, such as 'I think Beyoncé is overrated.' Classmates ask follow-up questions to figure out whether the student is lying or telling the truth, then vote on their answer. Players score a point for each correct guess, making every opinion a small performance.
What is a useful activity for practicing giving and defending opinions?
Four Corners is a free activity that forces students to commit to a position before they speak. Students move to the corner that matches their view on a statement: strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. They explain their corner's reasoning to the class and politely refute a different corner's argument, with anyone persuaded by the discussion switching corners.
What is a good activity for debate practice?
The free activity It's Debatable gives students a structured debate format where groups prepare for or against arguments on a topic they choose themselves. Two groups debate in front of the class, then respond to each other by disagreeing and giving counterarguments. The class votes for the winning side, giving students a real reason to argue their case.
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