Useful Expressions for Debate and Discussion in English

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This article presents some useful expressions for debate and discussion in English. Sometimes, you will need to engage in a formal discussion or in public speaking and you will have to debate and come up with convincing arguments.

Useful Expressions for Debating

The following are useful expressions for debating:

Welcoming the audience

• Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to this debate.

Stating the issue

• The motion for debate today is …
• People / Dr. Johnson… believe(s) / feel(s) / insist(s) / think(s)…that…
• Let’s first define some important concepts…

Phrases to present the most important point

• This argument/idea is of paramount importance.
• The most important argument for … is …
• The main idea/thing is …
• The most important idea is…
• Most importantly, I want to mention that…
• The primary argument for… is…
• Two/three… important arguments support my point of view…

Conceding an argument

• It’s true/obvious/evident that … However, …
• While you might say that …, it’s important to remember that …
• I agree with you that … On the other hand, …
• Although/even though it is true that… I believe that…
• I agree/admit/concede that… , but we must remember that…
• I can understand that… Nevertheless, …

Sequencing a list of arguments

• First of all, I’d like to state …
• Firstly, … Secondly, …Thirdly, …
• The second argument in favor of …
• To begin with, …
• I’d start by…
• For a start, …
• The next argument I’d like to state is…

Adding an argument to strengthen your point

• In addition to that,…
• You also have to consider…
• Furthermore,…
• Moreover,…
• What is more,…
• I might also add that…
• Perhaps / maybe I should also mention…
• Not to mention the fact that…
• Not only that but also…

Concluding

• Let me recap/recapitulate my point …
• As a final word, let me summarize my point of view …
• To reiterate my point of view, …
• My final thought is …
• It all boils down to …
• In a nutshell, what I am trying to say is …
• To sum up, …
• Finally, …

Common Phrases for Debate and Discussion | Infographic