Writing an opinion essay
When you write an opinion essay, you must say what you think about a topic and
try to convince the reader of your point of view on that topic. To do that, you should
first introduce the topic and state your opinion. Then, you should give three reasons
that support your view, and finally, you should write a conclusion where you
summarise your arguments and repeat your opinion using different words.
Plan your ideas
The first thing you need to do is decide whether you agree with the question or
statement and then make a list of two or three reasons that support your opinion,
including some facts and/or examples. Here is an example:
Top sports players are paid too much
Opinion: I disagree.
Reason 1: Their careers are very short.
o Fact 1: their careers usually end in their 30’s.
o Fact 2: sometimes, they are even shorter because of injuries.
Reason 2: They lose their privacy.
o Fact 1: Constantly followed by journalists and fans.
o Fact 2: Now, everyone uses their phones to take photos and publish
them.
Organise your text
An opinion essay has three parts:
Introduction
Arguments or reasons that support your view.
Conclusion
Introduction. Paragraph 1
Introduce the topic and give your opinion. Say whether you agree or disagree with
the statement or question. It can be a good idea to use a question to grab the
reader’s attention. Check the two examples below:
Nowadays, top sportspeople, such as football players or basketball players, have
huge salaries, and this promotes a lot of debate. However, I don’t think they earn
too much. In my opinion, their salaries are fair.
How often have you heard a friend or a colleague complain about the excessive
salaries of professional sports players? But do they really earn too much? I don’t
think they earn too much. I truly believe their salaries are fair.
Arguments. Paragraph 2
Give the first argument to support your opinion. Include at least two facts or
examples to show that your reason makes sense. Check this example:
Firstly, Despite all the money professional sports players earn every year, they work
for only a few years – they usually retire when they are in their thirties. In
addition, many of them have to retire earlier because they get injured and have to
stop playing.
Arguments. Paragraph 3
Give more reasons and again provide examples, facts or supporting ideas. For
example:
Secondly, sports stars are celebrities, and all celebrities lose their privacy.
Journalists, paparazzi and fans follow them everywhere, and they want to get
pictures or talk to them all the time. Moreover, now anyone can take photos with
their mobile phone and publish them at any moment on their social media accounts.
Conclusion. Paragraph 4
Summarise your ideas and repeat your opinion.
To sum up, I believe top professional sports players have the salaries they
deserve because their careers are short and because during those years, their
personal lives are affected by their popularity.
Useful language
Sequencing your text
Use connectors to sequence and structure your ideas:
Firstly/First of all, …
Secondly/Thirdly, …
Finally, …
Adding more points or ideas
Use connectors to introduce additional ideas:
In addition, …
Moreover, …
Giving your opinion
Expressions you can use to say what you think:
In my opinion, …
In my view, …
I think/feel that …
I (truly) believe that …
I am convinced that …
I agree that …
I disagree with/about …
Introducing examples
Use connectors to introduce examples:
For example, …
For instance, …
Expressing contrast, purpose and reason
You may also need or want to use some connectors of contrast, purpose and
reason.
Contrast: although, however, despite, etc.
Purpose: to, in order to, so that, etc.
Reason: because (of), since, due to, etc.
Introducing your conclusion
Use connectors to introduce the conclusion:
In conclusion, …
To sum up, …
