Agreeing and Disagreeing

Agreeing is easy. Disagreeing without being rude is the real art. Italians rarely say "hai torto" ("you're wrong"). They say "guarda, la vedo diversamente" ("look, I see it differently").

The agreement ladder (from gentle to emphatic):

Expression	Strength
Immagino di sì.	gentle
Sono d'accordo.	neutral
È vero.	affirming
Sono completamente d'accordo.	strong
Mi hai tolto le parole di bocca!	emphatic

The disagreement ladder (from hesitant to strong):

Expression	Tone
Mah, non saprei.	hesitant
Guarda, la vedo diversamente.	gentle
D'altra parte…	weighing things up
Non sono d'accordo.	firm
Anzi, al contrario!	strong disagreement

Discourse markers — the connective tissue of a real debate: D'altra parte,… (On the other hand), Infatti,… (Indeed, exactly), Anzi,… (On the contrary, rather), Sono d'accordo in parte. (I partly agree).

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