Page 91 - English Vocabualry In Use 3 (Upper Intermediate)

42 Belief and opinion

A Verbs connected with beliefs and opinions

Youprobablyalreadyknowthinkandbelieve;herearesomemoreverbs.
I’mconvincedwe’vemetbefore.[verystrongfeelingthatyou’reright]
I’vealwaysheldthatcompulsoryeducationisawasteoftime.[usedforveryfirmbeliefs;fml;maintain
could be used here]
Shemaintainsthatwe’rerelated,butI’mnotconvinced.[insistsonbelieving,oftenagainsttheevidence;
fml; hold could not be used here]
Ifeelsheshouldn’tbeforcedtodothejob.[strongpersonalopinion]
Ireckonthey’llgetmarriedsoon.[usedforanopinionaboutwhatislikelytohappen/tobetrue;infml]
Idoubt/daʊt/we’lleverseetotalworldpeace.[don’tbelieve]
Isuspectalotofpeoplenevereventhinkaboutpollutionwhenthey’redrivingtheirowncar.[havea
strong feeling about something negative; fairly formal]

B Phrases for expressing opinion

Wehaven’tmadeanyprogress,inmyview/inmyopinion.(fairlyformal)
She’smadeabigmistake,tomymind.(fairlyinformal)
If you ask me,heoughttochangehisjob.(infml)
NotehowpointofviewisusedinEnglish:
Fromateacher’spointofview,thenewexaminationsareadisaster.[howteachersseethings,orare
affected]

Common mistakes

Notice the prepositions in these phrases: In my opinion/view but to my mind and from my point
of view. (NOT in my mind or in my point of view)

C Prepositions used with belief and opinion words

Doyoubelieveinlifeafterdeath?Whatareyourviewsondivorce?Whatdoyouthinkofthenew
boss?
Areyoufororagainstlongprisonsentences?(neutral/infml)
I’minfavourof(opp opposedto;fml)longprisonsentences.
Ihavemydoubtsaboutthisplan.

D Beliefs, ideologies, philosophies, convictions

Ifyouwouldratherorganisethiswordtreedifferentlyorcanaddmoreexamples,doso;itwill
probablyhelpyoutorememberthewordsbetter.

beliefs

ideologies convictions
philosophies

lef/rightwing intellectual personal religious moral

socialist conservative Darwinist vegetarian Muslim pacifist

E Adjectives for describing beliefs and opinions

Theseareinsetswhichhavesimilar,butnotexactlythesame,meaning:
fanatical / obsessive eccentric / odd / weird conservative / traditional
middle-of-the-road / moderate dedicated / committed firm / strong radical / extreme
JasonisafanaticalsupporteroftheGreenParty.Grandpahasrathereccentricviews.Mariaisamoderate
liberal.RosieisacommittedChristian.Emmaisafirmbelieverinfreespeech.TomisaradicalMarxist.

90 English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate