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Avoiding giving your opinion

Sometimes a person asks for your opinion about something and you have nothing to say or you don't want to say your opinion.

Here are ten phrases for avoiding giving your opinion.

Ten ways to avoid giving your opinion

casual · neutral · formal

  1. I couldn't say.neutral"Who will win the election?" "I couldn't say."
  2. I've never given it much thought.neutral"Is the new syllabus better?" "I've never given it much thought."
  3. I don't have any feelings either way.neutralTea or coffee for the meeting? I don't have any feelings either way.
  4. Your guess is as good as mine.casual"When will the rain stop?" "Your guess is as good as mine."
  5. I (really) don't know what to say.neutralYou've asked me a hard one. I really don't know what to say.
  6. I really can't say.neutral"Is the boss happy with us?" "I really can't say."
  7. You're asking the wrong person.casualAsk me about cars? You're asking the wrong person.
  8. It doesn't affect me (either way).neutralThey can change the office hours. It doesn't affect me either way.
  9. It doesn't make any difference to me.neutralRed or blue? It doesn't make any difference to me.
  10. That's an interesting question.neutral"Should we raise school fees?" "That's an interesting question."

How to use them

  • is a brief expression for saying that you don't have an opinion. Because of its brevity it might seem a bit rude.
  • indicates (in a fairly polite way) that you don't think the question is very interesting because you never think about these things.
  • might be an answer to a question about what somebody is going to do. you are saying that you don't really care.
  • are saying that you don't have enough information to answer a factual question.
  • is similar to . It is saying that you have no opinion or idea about something.
  • are saying that you are not affected by the topic of the question and so have no opinion or interest in the topic.
  • is often used by politicians. Although they say that the question is interesting

Quick check

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  1. Someone asks you about engines, and you know nothing about them. Which phrase fits?

  2. "Your guess is as good as mine" means:

  3. Which phrase buys time without answering?

See also: Giving your opinion

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Asking for opinions

It's a good idea to ask another person about their opinion before you tell them your opinion loudly and strongly.

Agreeing with people

When we're having conversations with others, it's useful to have a number of formal and informal phrases that you can use to show agreement with what another person has said.

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Quick check