TASK B : GROUP DISCUSSION ( USEFUL EXPRESSIONS )

hello beautiful tulips.

Here are some of the useful expressions that you can use in a group discussion. To initiate, maintain and close a group discussion. let's start!

these are some of the expressions you can use to INITIATE a discussion :-

Don't forget to greet the examiners and other candidates, okay. :
Good morning ladies and gentlemen / everyone.

TO START A DISCUSSION :

• I would like to start the discussion by saying that ...
• We are here to discuss ...
• I would like to express my view regarding this matter ...
• Let's look at some possible solutions...
• Allow me to begin ...
• May I begin by saying ...
• We're here to discuss.....
• Let's start by discussing ..
• Today, we are going to discuss...
• Our task today is to discuss ...

TO ASK FOR AN OPINION :

• What is your opinion ?
• What do you think about ... ?
• What is your view on ... ?
• May I know your opinion regarding ... ?
• What do you feel about ...?
• Do you agree that ... ?
• What do you think we can do to ... ?
• Would you like to share your opinion on ... ?
• Would you like to offer your comments ...?

TO GIVE AN OPINION :

• I think ...
• I believe
• I must say...
• In my opinion ...
• From my point of view...
•  I would say that ...
• Personally, I feel
• I am sure that ...
• As far as I am concerned ...
• I am of the opinion that ...
• I am convinced that ...
• It seems to me that ...
• I must say that...
• It's clear to me that ...

TO EXPRESS STRONG AGREEMENT :

• I strongly agree.
• I agree completely.
• That is certainly true.
• Yes. I am sure that you are right.
• Absolutely !
• Exactly! I couldn't agree with you more
• You have hit the nail on the head...
• You've made your point very clear.
• You have made an absolutely convincing argument. I completely agree.

TO EXPRESS AGREEMENT :

• I agree with you.
• You are right.
• That is true.
• I share the same view.
• I am of the same opinion.
• I am glad you mentioned that.
• I see your point.

TO EXPRESS PARTIAL AGREEMENT :

• You could be right but ...
• That is true but ...
• I see your point but ....
•  You have a point but ..
• That may be so but ...
• Your suggestion is good but ...
• I do not entirely agree with you...
• I agree to a certain extent but ...
• That's true to a certain extent but ...
• I think you are right to say that. However, ...
• It sounds like a good idea, but..

TO EXPRESS STRONG DISAGREEMENT :

• I disagree completely.
• That can't be true at all.
• That is absolutely untrue.
• That's totally out of the question.
• No. I don't like this suggestion.

TO EXPRESS DISAGREEMENT :

• I disagree.
• I don't see it that way.
• I beg to differ.
• I don't think so.
• I am not convinced that your suggestion will work.
• This will give rise to other problems.
• On the contrary, ...
• I understand what you're saying but I don't think that's practical / the correct solution.
• I would consider ... as more important ...
• I think it would be better if ...
• I think you are mistaken.

TO SIGNAL A CONTRASTING IDEA :

• However,
• But,
• In contrast,
• On the other hand,
• From a different point of view,..
• Looking at the other side of the argument

 and these are some of the useful expressions you can use to MAINTAIN a discussion :-

TO MAINTAIN THE DISCUSSION :

• In addition,
• Moreover,
• Other than that,
• As you've mentioned,
• I would like to add that ...

TO MAKE A STRONG DISCUSSION :

• We must ...
• There is no other way except ...
• There is no alternative but to...
• The only solution to this problem is ..

TO MAKE A SUGGESTION :

• I would suggest that ...
• My suggestion is that ...
•  I recommend that ...
• I would like to propose that ...
• I think we should ...
• How about.. ?
• I think it is a good idea if ...
• Don't you think we should...
• My recommendation is ...
• In my opinion, we could ...
• What about ...
• Perhaps we should, ...
• It might be a good idea to ...
• I strongly propose ...
• I believe that...

TO ASK FOR A SUGGESTION :

• What is your suggestion ?
• What would you suggest ?
• What do you think ?
• What is your opinion ?
• What are your views regarding this?
• Do you have any suggestions?
• Is there anything you would like to say about this?
• What is your comment regarding this?
• Would you like to comment on this?
• What do you think about that?
• What is your view on ... ?
• What do you suggest ?
• What about you?
• Which suggestion do you think is better?

TO PRESENT SOLUTIONS :

• One solution is to ...
• one possibility is ...
• One way is to...
• Another solution is ...
• We could either ... or ...
• There are three ways to solve this problem. Firstly,...

TO CONTRAST AND JUSTIFY CHOICES:

• XX has the advantage of ... but ZZ...
• While XX has some advantages, ZZ is still a better choice because ...
• XX would be able to ... but ZZ ...
• XX sounds good but ZZ is better because ...
• XX is a better choice because ...
• The best solution is ... because ...

TO ACCEPT :

• That's a good idea.
• That sounds great !
• That's fine with me.
• I can't agree more.
• I support your suggestion.
• I have no objection to that.
• Your suggestion is acceptable to me.
• I am in favour of Candidate A's suggestion.
• That's a great suggestion . You've got my support.
• You've made your point very clear.
• Yes, I agree with you.
• I agree that ...
• Yes, that's true.
• I am in complete agreement with your suggestion that ...
• I am of the same opinion.

TO REJECT :

• I appreciate your opinion but ...
• I do see your point but ...
• I understand your concern but ...
• That is interesting but ...
• You have a good point there but ..
• I am sorry. I can't agree with you.
• I am afraid we do not share the same opinion.
• I am sorry, I can't accept what you have just said.
• I beg to differ on that point.
• On the other hand, ..
• On the contrary, I think ..
• I think otherwise.
• That is true but...
• Well, you could be wrong.
• I suppose that is true to a certain extent.

TO ASK FOR CLARIFICATION :

• What do you mean by... ?
• I am sorry I missed your point. Could you please explain...
• I am afraid I am not quite sure of what you meant. Could you please clarify ...
• Sorry, I don't follow you. Would you mind giving an example?
• Can you please explain further on ...
• Do you mean to say that ...
• May I know why .. ?
• Do you mind telling me more about ... ?
• I'm not sure I understand your point. Could you please explain that to me again?

TO GIVE CLARIFICATION :

• What I meant was...
• Sure, I was trying to point out that ...
• Certainly, one good example would be ...
• Let me explain how ...
• My point is ...

TO PERSUADE :

• I wonder if you have thought of ...
• Don't you think ...
• Maybe you should consider...
• Have you considered ...
• I can assure you that ...
• Wouldn't it be a good idea to...

TO INTERRUPT :

• Excuse me, can you please repeat what you have just said?
• Excuse me, can you please clarify that ?
• Allow me interrupt ...
• Excuse me, but isn't it true that...
• Sorry to interrupt but  I have to say this...
• Excuse me, could I just ask you a quick question?
• I am sorry to interrupt but I think we need to get back to our topic.
• I am sorry I have to stop you. Can we get back to our topic on ... ?
• Excuse me, but...
• I hate to interrupt you, but...

huh...no no. not done yet. we need to close the discussion, okay.
so here are some useful expressions to use to CLOSE a discussion.

TO SUMMARIZE MAIN POINTS :

• In short,
• To sum up,
• I will briefly summarize the main points.
• Allow me to go over the key points.
• Let's sum up what has been mentioned so far.

TO CONCLUDE :

• In conclusion ,
• As a conclusion ,
• To conclude,
• In a nutshell,

TO STATE A GROUP DECISION (TOTAL AGREEMENT ) :

• We all agree that ...
• Our decision is that ...
• We have decided that ...
• We have come to the conclusion that ...
• We have come to an agreement that ...
• So, we've all agreed that ...
• So , we can conclude that ...
• I think we have come to the conclusion that ...
• In conclusion, we all agree that .. is the best suggestion . Thank you.

TO STATE THE OUTCOME OF DISCUSSION
(PARTIAL AGREEMENT / TOTAL DISAGREEMENT )

• Most of us agree that...
• Two of us agree that .. while the other two of us believe that ...
• We could not reach a group decision because some of us strongly think that... while the rest of us believe that ...
• We are unable to come to a solid decision because some of us strongly believe that... while the others think that...

TO END THE DISCUSSION :

• Does anyone have anything else to say ? Otherwise, we shall end this discussion here.
• If you have nothing more to add, we shall stop here.
• It has been an interesting discussion.
• Since we have come to an agreement, I guess it is time to end our discussion.
• As all of you are agreeable, let's bring this discussion to a close.

TO CLOSE  A DISCUSSION :

• Thank you for your contributions to this discussion.
• Thank you for a fruitful and interesting discussion.
• Thank you very much for your attention and participation.
• I hope you have enjoyed this discussion. Thank you.

okay, the thing is, the sources I got is from 3 different books.  I might have put some expressions in the wrong category or a not so suitable one, so I apologize for that. But other than that, yup, this is legit. :)
so yeah ! that is all. I hope this helps. thanks for reading.

much love,
EDA