How to express your views in Chinese

Being able to voice your opinion in Chinese allows you to have deeper conversations with people. There are many ways to express your point of view in Chinese other than just the plain 我觉得 (wǒ juédé) and 我认为 (wǒ rènwéi). Adding a few variations and new Chinese phrases to your repertoire will enable you to express your opinion more eloquently and spice up your otherwise normal conversations.

能够用中文发表观点可以让你与他人有更深的交流。除了"我觉得"和"我认为"，中文里还有很多表达观点的方式。给你的词汇库提升多样性、增加词汇量，让你具备巧言善辩的能力，使你原本枯燥乏味的对话变得趣味。

个人 (gèrén)

A simple way to add some variation to 我觉得 and 我_认为 is to add 个人 gèrén after 我 wǒ. 个人 means "individual" or "personal". When used in conjunction with 我觉得 and 我认为, it can mean "personally, I think" or "as for me personally."

赋予"我觉得"和"我认为"多样化的方法就是在"我"的后面跟上“个人”。“个人”的意思是"individual"或"personal"。当与"我觉得"和"我认为"连用时，它可以表示"personally, I think"或"as for me personally"。

我个人觉得，她十分漂亮。

wǒ gèrén juédé tā shífēn piàoliang.

Personally, I think she is very beautiful.

我个人觉得不是这样的。

wǒ gèrén juédé búshì zhèyàng de.

Personally, I don't think it's like this.

我个人认为可以邀请他。

wǒ gèrén rènwéi kéyǐ yāoqǐng tā.

Personally, I think we can invite him.

我个人认为人们不应该喝酒。

wǒ gèrén rènwéi rénmen bú yìng gāi hējiǔ.

Personally, I believe people should not drink.

在我看来 (zài wǒ kàn lái)

The next useful Chinese phrase to express your point of view is 在我看来 (zài wǒ kàn lái). This can be translated as "in my opinion," "in my view," "to me," or "as I see it." It usually goes at the beginning of a sentence but can also go after the subject or topic.

"在我看来"是另一种表达观点的实用短语。这可以译为"in my opinion"、"in my view"、"to me"或"as I see it"。通常它放于句首，但也可以放于主语或话题之后。

在我看来，这是一个大错误。

zài wǒ kàn lái, zhè shì yígè dà cuòwù.

In my view, this is a big mistake.

在我看来买彩票是浪费钱。

zài wǒ kàn lái mǎi cǎipiào shì làngfèi qián.

In my opinion, buying lottery tickets is a waste of money.

这样做在我看来很好。

zhèyàng zuò zài wǒ kàn lái hén hǎo.

It seems good to me to do it this way.

在我看来，他是有道理的。

zài wǒ kànlái, tā shì yǒu dàolǐ de.

In my opinion, he is correct.

她出事在我看来都是你的错。

tā chūshì zài wǒ kàn lái dōu shì nǐ de cuò.

It seems to me that her accident is all your fault.

对我来说 (duì wǒ lái shuō)

A common way of expressing your opinion is to preface your sentence with 对我来说 (duì wǒ lái shuō). You can also place this phrase after the subject or topic of the sentence. It means "as far as I'm concerned," "as for me," or "for me." This phrase is very useful in conversations and is a natural way to express your opinion.

表达意见一个常见的方式是在句子之前加上"对我来说"。你也可以将这个短语放于主语或者话题之后。它的意思是"as far as I'm concerned"、"as for me"或"for me"。这个短语在对话中非常有用，也是一个表达意见的自然方式。

这对我来说是一个挑战。

zhè duì wǒ lái shuō shì yígè tiǎozhàn.

This is a challenge for me.

这对我来说是好消息。

zhè duì wǒ lái shuō shì hǎo xiāoxī.

This is good news for me.

这本书对我来说没有什么意思。

zhè běnshū duì wǒ lái shuō méiyǒu shé me yìsi.

As for me, this book is not at all interesting.

上海这个城市对我来说太陌生了。

Shànghǎi zhège chéngshì duì wǒ lái shuō tài mòshēngle.

Shanghai is too foreign for me.

理解这个问题对我来说太难了。

Lǐjiě zhège wèntí duì wǒ lái shuō tài nánle.

It is difficult for me to understand the question.

哲学对我来说太深奥了。

zhéxué duì wǒ lái shuō tài shēn'àole.

Philosophy is too abstruse for me.

对我来说她是世界上最美丽的女孩。

duì wǒ lái shuō tā shì shìjiè shàng zuì měilì de nǚhái.

As far as I'm concerned, she is the most beautiful girl in the world.

对我而言 (duì wǒ ér yán)

A more refined version of 对我来说 is 对我而言 (duì wǒ ér yán). 言 (yán) is roughly the same as 说 (shuō) but is derived from classical Chinese. This phrase sounds more sophisticated and suitable for formal settings likes speeches or written compositions.

"对我而言"是"对我来说"的升级版，更为文雅。"言"大致与"说"一样，不过它是来源于古文。这个短语听起来更为精细，适合于正式场合，如演讲或者书面写作。

对我而言，生活很简单，爱就是一切。

duì wǒ ér yán, shēnghuó hěn jiǎndān, ài jiùshì yíqiè.

For me, life is very simple. Love is all that matters.

搬家对我而言已经成了常事。

bānjiā duì wǒ ér yán yǐjīng chéngle chángshì.

Moving had become a common experience for me.

这处地方对我而言很特别。

zhè chǔ dìfāng duì wǒ ér yán hěn tèbié.

This place is very special to me.

对我而言世界上最重要的人是我的妻子。

duì wǒ ér yán shìjiè shàng zuì zhòngyào de rén shì wǒ de qīzi.

The most important person to me in the world is my wife.

对我而言，这两个国家的文化没有什么根本的区别。

duì wǒ éryán, zhè liǎng ge guójiā de wénhuà méiyǒu shénme gēnběn de qūbié.

To me, there aren't any fundamental differences between the cultures of these two countries.

就个人而言 (jiù gèrén ér yán)

Finally, another phrase that includes 个人 and 而言 is 就个人而言 (jiù gèrén ér yán), which means the same as the previous Chinese phrases but is very formal and classical. The 就 (jiù) is the same as 对 (duì) and can be thought of as "take me for example" or "for me personally." It can also be simply translated as "personally."

最后，另一个包含"个人"和"而言"的短语就是"就个人而言"，意思与之前的短语一样，但是较为正式和古典。"就"和"对"一样，可以理解为"take me for example"或"for me personally"，它也可以就只是译为"personally"。

就个人而言，我不介意。

jiù gèrén ér yán, wǒ bú jièyì.

Personally, I don't mind.

就个人而言，我从没见过不明飞行物。

jiù gèrén ér yán, wǒ cóng méi jiànguò bu míng fēixíng wù.

Personally, I've never seen a UFO.

就个人而言，我发现他有点蠢。

jiù gèrén ér yán, wǒ fāxiàn tā yǒudiǎn chǔn.

Personally, I realized that he is a bit stupid.

Translated from: Sensible Chinese

Please visit Chinlingo for Chinese learning.