How to Disagree or Partially Agree in the Agree Disagree Question

One of the types of questions that can appear in your writing task 2 is the agree/disagree type of question. In such questions, you will be asked whether you agree or disagree to a given statement or opinion. Agreeing to an opinion is not that difficult to be written or spoken about. The problem comes when you want to show disagreement or a partial agreement.

Many students are not able to express this disagreement or partial agreement clearly and lose out on a good band because of this. In this article, we will teach you how to do just that and not compromise on your potential for a higher band.

What kind of errors do students make?

In the writing task 2 of the IELTS you will be asked questions like the following:

b. Many children these days have an unhealthy lifestyle. Both schools and parents are  equally responsible for solving this problem.

           To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

For such a question, you need to be clear about whether you agree or disagree to the given statement. Your opinion should come out out clearly with the usage of right kind of words.

For example, for the question ‘b’ asked above, here is a statement from two different sample answers:

In my opinion, parents are more responsible for influencing a child’s lifestyle as they spend most time with them.

I disagree with this statement but also feel that parents and schools are both responsible for changing the unhealthy lifestyles of their children.

Which statement do you think brings out the writer’s disagreement clearly?

It’s in the first statement that the disagreement is coming out clearly. The second statemement is confusing and makes the disagreement ambigious. If your answer has many such sentences, your band will go down considerably.

In order to make the essay to an agree/disagree question clear and complete, you need to word it appropriately. So, let’s learn the vocabulary for doing that.

Vocabulary for disagreeing and partial agreement

A For disagreeing

1. I disagree.

Example question:

Answer:

Alternative medicine is not new. It is accepted that it pre-dates conventional medicine and it is still used by many people all over the world. I disagree that it is dangerous, and feel that both alternative and conventional medicine can be useful.

2. I don’t agree

Example question:

Answer:

I don’t agree that the country in itself is responsible for the dying out of the traditional skills and way of life. There are other factors involved too. On top of the list would be the need of the hour and the fact that one needs to change with the changing times.

3. This is in complete contradiction to…

Example question:

Answer:

Though this is in complete contradiction to the way our minds have been conditioned to look at examinations, it is high time that we change the way we measure students’ performance.

4. That’s not necessary/ It’s not necessary

Example question:

Answer:

It not necessary that the only reason  for traditional forms of music dying out, is the modern form of music.  Other factors like not giving enough space or not creating a proper awareness amongst people are responsible for it too.

B. For agreeing partly

1. I agree up to a point, but …

Example question:

Answer:

I agree to point that films and television have an impact on the mindsets of people and especially children and young adults, but let’s not forget that the adults around these people are equally responsible for monitoring what kind of media their children are exposed to.

2. That’s partly true, but …

Example question:

Answer:

It is partly true that the working day has become longer because of the amount of work and the stress of deadlines, but this is also because of the increasing competition. Employees have become increasingly dispensable because of easy availability of skilled labour in the market. Therefore, in the absence of job security, people have to give their best in terms of not only quality but quantity too.

3. That’s not always true

Example question:

Answer:

A number of children, who receive home schooling, become highly successful adults later on their life. Though there is enough evidence to prove this, it doesn’t always hold true.

Vocabulary Exercise:

1. Objective: learning to use appropriate phrase to agree/disagree

Directions: Fill in the gaps in the following sentences with appropriate agree/disagree vocabulary from the options given in the box. 

1. It is often argued that it is more advantageous to choose a high paying job, even if it doesn’t appeal to you at all.  _________  with this opinion and think that job satisfaction is much more important than salary.

2. Although  ________ that it is important to spend money on public services, ___________ that spending on the arts is a waste of money.

3. Many college going students prefer spending time with their friends outside rather than attending the lectures.  Though  ___________________, research does show that more and more students are opting out of attending college lectures altogether.

4. With the increase in sales of vehicles, the number of accidents happening everyday has increased too. Some may say  that _________________, there is enough evidence to prove otherwise.

B. Objective: learning to disagree to a statement or argument

Directions : Use the phrases learnt ‘For disagreeing’ to answer the following statements. 

1. Credit cards are more harmful than debit cards.

2. Online piracy of music and movies is bad for creative industry.

3. Video games containing violence are appropriate for children.

4. Advertising is a waste of resources.

C. Objective: learning to agree to a statement or argument

Directions: use the phrases learnt ‘For partly agreeing ’ to partly agree with the following statements.

1. Jobs should be subcontracted into developing countries.

2. It is appropriate for adolescents to be sentenced to life without parole.

3. MNCs are superior to domestic firms.

Answer key:

A.

1. I completely disagree

2. I agree, I don’t agree

3.that’s not always true

4. that’s only partly true

B.

1. Answer will vary

2.Answer will vary

3.Answer will vary

4.Answer will vary

C.

1. Answer will vary

2.Answer will vary

3. Answer will vary