How to take part in a debate
( with a selection of EnglishOnLine's linkwords)

Introducing

to begin with, to start with, as an introduction, first and foremost...
Well, let me begin at the beginning …

Adding information

Adv : besides, moreover, furthermore, what is more, ... too.
Prep : in addition to... , not to mention ... , not only ... but also ...

Summarizing / Summing up (to resume = reprendre, repartir, recommencer)

in a word, in short, to put it in a nutshell, on balance, to sum up

Contrasting

Adv : but, yet, though, still, nevertheless, nonetheless, actually, conversely
Conj : although, though, whereas
Prep : unlike ..., instead of ... , despite ... , in spite of ..., for all …
Loc : on the contrary, on the other hand, by contrast, in fact, The fact is (that) ...

Reporting personal opinions :

to my mind, in my opinion, as far as I'm concerned, as I see it, personally, I think, I guess (US), I believe (NB : according to me)

Expressing a personal point of view

As far as I'm concerned, the text ... To my mind, ... In my opinion, ... My opinion is that ... My personal point of view is that ... Now, I'd like to say what I think about...  I'm going to express my own point of view about ...

Disagreeing

Well... (rising intonation = doubt or disbelief)
Well, I don't think so really.
Well, my point of view is rather different from yours.
Well, I don't ( quite ) agree with you about this...
Well, I'm afraid I disagree.
Hum ! I rather disagree.

© Francis David (EnglishOnLine)