STEPS FOR WRITING AN OPINION COMPOSITION

1. Read the title of the composition and think about what your opinion is.2. Brainstorm : think about what you want to say and write down all your

ideas.3. Choose the most interesting or relevant ideas to support your opinion.4. Organize the ideas into paragraphs and put the paragraphs in order:

a. Opening paragraph: state the topic and give your opinionb. Body paragraph(s): each paragraph develops one idea that

supports your opinionc. Conclusion paragraph: summarize your opinion and give a final

recommendation5. Write a draft.6. Edit your draft: check spelling, grammar and punctuation.7. Have your draft edited by a peer. 8. Write your final composition

Example of PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

‘Do you think eating a healthy diet can have a positive influence on

people’s behaviour?

Opening Paragraph: state the topic and give your opinion

Body : each paragraph develops one idea that supports your opinion

Explain the ideas that support your opinion in a logical and organized way. Use different expressions to sequence or to add ideas, and to introduce opinionse.g.:” First of all … “ “ Furthermore….” “In my opinion…”

Conclusion: summarize your opinion and give a final recommendation

Begin the paragraph with an expression that marks the conclusion e.g.:”In short/To sum up/In conclusion … “(summarize your opinion) e.g.: “As far as I am concerned …” (suggest something to improve the situation)EXPRESSIONS YOU MAY USE IN YOUR TEXT TO …

Begin with a general statement e.g.: “Modern lifestyle is changing people’s eating habits ...”and give your opinion e.g.: “I think eating a healthy diet can have a positive influence on many areas of our daily life.”

Introduce your opinion:In my opinion… En mi opinionI(personally)) think/I believe/ Personalmente creo que/no creo queI feel/I don’t feel that… Me parece/no me parece queIn my view/ In my point of view …. Bajo mi punto de vistaAs I see it… Como lo veo yoAs far as I’m concerned … En lo que a mi respectaIt’s clear to me that… me parece evidente queI agree/I don’t agree that… Estoy de acuerdo en que/ No...

Sequence ideas:To begin with… Para empezar ...The first point is… El primer argumento es ...First of all …/First/Firstly,... En primer lugar ... / Primeramente,...Secondly/ Thirdly… En segundo lugar/ en tercer lugarFinally…/Lastly… Por último…

Add informationFurthermore, … Además (formal)Moreover, …. Además (formal)In addition, … Además (less formal)Besides, … Además (the least formal)What is more, … Es más, ...Also…/...too TambiénAs well as… al igual queApart from (that)… Aparte de (eso)

Give a reasonDue to(+noun)/Due to the fact that(+sentence) Debido a/Debido al hecho de que…Owing to(+noun)/Owing to the fact that(+sentence) “Because……(+sentence) porqueBecause of………(+noun e.g.: the rain) a causa de / por ... (e.g.: la lluvia)Since…/As……(+sentence e.g.: he is the boss) ya que, puesto que…(e.g.: él es el jefe)That’s why ... por eso ...For this/that reason por esta/esa razón…

Express a consequenceCosequently… en consecuénciaTherefore… por lo tantoSo… así que, por eso…As a result of… como consecuencia de This means that… esto significa que

Introduce the conclusionIn short… en resumenIn brief… “In summary… “To sum up “In conclusion… en conclusiónTo conclude… “CONJUNCTIONS

According to - de acuerdo con / según Namely - a saber

After - después que Neither... nor - ni... ni

Although - aunque, si bien Nevertheless - sin embargo, no obstante

And - y Nor - ni

As - cuando, mientras, a medida que, como Notwithstanding - no obstante

As if - como si Or - o

As long as - mientras, con tal que Or else - sino

As soon as - en cuanto Otherwhise - de otra manera, si no

As though - como si Provided - siempre que , con tal de que

As well as - además de Providing - siempre que , con tal de que

Because - porque Since - puesto que, ya que, desde que

Because of - debido a So as to - para

Before - antes que So as not to - para no

Both...and - tanto...como So that - para que

But - pero Still - sin embargo, no obstante

But - sino Than - que ( en comparaciones )

Either... or - o... o Therefore - por lo tanto

Even though - aunque Though - aunque

Except - excepto, salvo Unless - a menos que

For - porque Until - hasta que

Furthermore - además Whenever - cada vez que, cuando

However - sin embargo Whereas - siendo que, mientras

If - si Whether - si

In case of - en caso de Whether... or - si... o

In order to - para While - mientrar, mientras que, aunque

Moreover - además, por otra parte Yet - sin embargo, no obstante

More Expressions you can use to introduce an opinion

In my opinion, ... In my eyes, ...To my mind, ... As far as I am concerned, ... Speaking

personally, ...From my point of view, ... As for me / As to me, ... I dare say that ...I would say that ... It seems to me that ... I am of the

opinion that ..My impression is that ... I am under the impression that ... It is my impression that

.I have the feeling that ... My own feeling on the subject is that ...I have no doubt that ... I am sure / I am certain that ... I hold the opinion/ the view that ... (I form / adopt an opinion.)I guess that ... It goes without saying that ... My view / opinion / belief / impression / conviction is that ...I think / consider / find / feel / believe / suppose / presume / assume that ...