How to Politely Disagree in English
Sitting in your daily or weekly meeting with your collegues and boss, around the table or on a conference call, is sometimes a bit daunting. You have to consider when to say something or even interrupt someone. When you are agreeing with that person it is often quite easy to become a ‘yes’ man, but what about when you need to disagree with someone politely in English? What can you say? Below are some formal examples of how to express disagreement in a meeting:
[checklist icon=”check” iconcolor=”light” circle=”yes”]- Have you considered…
- I understand your concern, however…
- I respect your opinion, but…
- In my opinion…
In most of these examples we start by saying something positive before the negative of disagreement. This contrast in English needs a connector from a positive to a negative and the most common one is ‘but’. If you feel comfortable then you can also use ‘however’, ‘although’, ‘even though’, ‘while’ and ‘whereas’ in very similar positions as ‘but’. They do have slightly different meanings, which I will discuss in another article. Now, hopefully you feel ready to have an argument.
