Clarifying a question | I’m afraid I didn’t quite catch that. I’m sorry, could you repeat your question, please? If I could just rephrase your question, you’d like to know… | |
Avoiding giving an answer | I’m afraid that’s not really what we were discussing today. | |
Admitting you don’t know | Sorry, that’s not my field./ Sorry, that’s off the top of my head. I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to your question, but I will try to find it out for you. | |
Delaying the answer | I'm glad you asked that question. Can I answer that question later? | |
Agreeing | I agree with you 100 percent. I couldn't agree with you more. That's true. That's for sure. You're absolutely right. Absolutely. That's exactly how I feel. Exactly. | I'm afraid I agree with Peter.I have to side with Dad on this one. No doubt about it. (weak) I suppose so./I guess so. You have a point there. I was just going to say that. I agree with you but there is another way of looking at it. |
Disagreeing | I don't think so. (strong) No way. I'm afraid I disagree. (strong) I totally disagree. That's not entirely true. On the contrary… I'm sorry to disagree with you, but… Yes, but don't you think… That's not the same thing at all. I'm afraid I have to disagree. | I'm not so sure about that. I must take issue with you on that. It's unjustifiable to say that... I beg to differ. (strong) I'd say the exact opposite. Not necessarily. That's not always true. That's not always the case. No, I'm not so sure about that. |