Reading 5-1: Opinion and Fact
1. First-person “I” is used to write both fact and opinion.
Ex. I think summer is the best time of the year.
Ex. I am a student.
Which one is fact and which one is opinion?
If an “I” sentence is personally true to the writer/author, then it is a fact.
If an “I” sentence is a belief or feeling of the writer, then it is an opinion.
Here are some verbsthat show opinion.
Opinion Verbs
| think | believe | imagine | assume |
| consider | expect | feel | guess |
| understand | presume | suppose | suspect |
| like | love | hate | prefer |
Ex. I assume the bus ride is free.
Writers often make mistakes and use verbsoffact to tell their opinion. The most common verboffact is “know”.
Ex. I know hippos are mammals.
Ex. I know red cars are cooler than green cars.
Which one is fact and which one is opinion?
2. Facts are more often written in third-person he/she/it.
Ex. Hippos are mammals.
Ex. The earth orbits the sun.
Opinions can sound like facts when written in the he/she/it, but they are still not facts.
Ex. Red cars are cooler than green cars.
Ex. Trucks are better than cars.
Ex. UFOs often visit earth.
3. Both fact and opinion use present tense verbs.
Ex. I believe it will rain.
Ex. I know the earth orbits the sun.
Present tense means something that is generally believed to be true. With present tense opinion, the writer assumes a general truth.
4. Past tense used with fact means a historic fact.
Ex. Columbus sailed to the Bahamas in 1492.
Past tense used with opinion means an old opinion. The writer no longer believes it.
Ex. I thought penguins flew.
Ex. Red cars were cooler than green cars. Now green cars are cooler.
5. Future tense used with fact means something in the future will be the same as the past.
Ex. The sun will rise tomorrow.
The sun rose every day in the past. It will continue to do the same thing in the future.
Future tense with opinion means expectation.
Ex. I will love going to school in California.