Supporting a point of view in Japanese

Level B1

Supporting a point of view in Japanese

Japanese usually puts “I think” after the opinion, as in “開けたほうがいいと思います,” and often leaves “I” unspoken; the polite example gives a purpose with ように, meaning “so that,” then adds another reason in a separate sentence. In the casual version, し presents one reason among others and から follows the final reason before the opinion, so do not copy English “because” word order. Introduce an example with 例えば, attach けど to the point you acknowledge before giving the contrasting thought, start a response with でも, and sum up with 全体として. Use the forms marked formal for polite conversation with unfamiliar people or in a meeting and the informal forms with close friends; です and ます endings establish politeness, so けど and でも can appear in polite conversation too, while “休めばいいんじゃない？” is a casual suggestion meaning “couldn’t they take another day off?”

例えば for examples, けど and でも for contrast, 全体として for conclusions

Support an opinion with a purpose or reasons using ように, し and から

目的 ように、 意見 と思います。 もう一つの理由 。 理由 し、 もう一つの理由 から 、 意見 と思う。

Introduce a concrete example with 例えば

例(たと)えば、具体的な例。

Acknowledge one point before contrasting it with けど

認める点けど、対比する考え。

Respond with でも and suggest a practical alternative

でも、対応策。

Give an overall conclusion with 全体として

全体(ぜんたい)として、結論。

A polite discussion using です and ます endings

A casual discussion between friends using plain forms

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