Signal Words That Reveal Opinions

Judgment words like best, worst, should, and believe often flag opinions.

Certain words act as flags that an opinion is coming. Judgment words describe quality: best, worst, greatest, beautiful, terrible, boring, amazing. Belief words show thinking: I think, I believe, I feel, in my opinion, probably. Should-words tell what someone thinks ought to happen: should, must, ought to, need to. Read this review: 'The new playground has six slides.

In my opinion, it's the best playground in the city. Everyone should visit. ' Sentence one is a fact; you could count the slides. Sentence two has 'In my opinion' and 'best'. Sentence three has 'should'. Be careful, though: a signal word is a clue, not proof. 'The tallest building in the city is 50 floors' uses a superlative, but it can be measured, so it's still a fact.

Always ask whether the statement can be proven.

• 1Judgment words: best, worst, amazing, boring.
• 2Belief words: I think, I believe, in my opinion.
• 3Signal words are clues; always check if it can be proven.