How to express opposing ideas in English

By Shivam

If you are new here please read this first.

Hey there everyone,

How are you all doing?

On cloud nine?

Of course, you must be, it’s Christmas Eve and New Year is about to begin after a few days and everybody is super pumped up for everything.

So what do you like to eat more during these eves?

Cake or pizza?

Wait!!!

What did you just say?

Pizza?

Or Cake?

You must be thinking what am I rambling on, isn’t it?

I got no problem if you like any of the above two options, but same scenario (one-word answers) occurs whenever I hear a non-native stating their choice.

Conversation is all about two or more people interacting equally with each other. Now if a person asks you about choices and you give him a one-word answer, it kind of puts him on the stand to lead and balance the vacuum you created for the further conversation. And I can tell from my personal experience that following up every time after such gaps is definitely not a piece of cake on the other end, hence the conversation ends out of nowhere.

It doesn’t mean that I am telling you to exaggerate the situations or answers. The thing is, one-word answering is one of the top conversation killers in spoken English.

Well, how to deal with such issues?

Luckily, dealing with these issues is not that tough how it seems. Using one of the three formats of sentences that I am about to mention down below, you will start noticing your conversation skills improving and you the one leading the conversation.

So without beating around the bush, let’s begin:

Method 1: Question: What do you like- Pizza or Cake?
Answer: Although some people like cake, I prefer pizza because I love its toppings and cheese.

Method 2: Question: What do you like- Pizza or cake?
Answer: Some people like cake; however, I prefer pizza because I love its toppings and cheese.

Method 3: Question: What do you like- Pizza or cake?
Answer: Even though some people like cake, I prefer pizza because I love its toppings and cheese.

 

In all three methods above, we have talked about the negative part first and then explained why we prefer our respective choice. You can see yourself how better it sounds than just one-word answers like- Pizza or cake.

Make sure you start applying these strategies in your spoken English and you will notice your conversation skills improving day by day.

Merry Christmas to you and your family and enjoy your time. May you have an amazing year ahead!

Till then, keep learning and improving.

Bye-bye.

P.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out the English Harmony System HERE!

English Harmony System