A fact can be checked. An opinion is a judgement that different people may reasonably disagree about. The skill is to read each statement and ask, “What would I need to check this?”
This lesson is part of vocabulary and inference. It connects closely to identifying a speaker’s attitude, because opinions often carry attitude.
How can you tell them apart?
A fact names something that could be confirmed: a date, a number, an event, a measurement. “The school installed twelve recycling bins in March” is a fact, because the school’s records could confirm or deny it.
An opinion expresses value or prediction. Signal words include greatest, worst, should, ought, clearly, sadly, probably, beautiful and too much. These words tell you the writer is judging.
How to label a statement, step by step
- Read one statement at a time. Do not judge the whole paragraph together.
- Ask how it could be checked. A record, a measurement, a timetable, a report.
- Look for judging words, including words that show feelings or recommendations.
- Split mixed sentences into a factual part and an opinion part.
- Label each part, and remember that a false fact is still a fact.
Worked example
(a) The school installed twelve recycling bins in March. (b) It is the most sensible change this term. (c) Waste collection has already dropped, so every class should compete for the cleanest corridor.
Statement (a): “installed twelve recycling bins in March” can be checked with school records. Fact.
Statement (b): “the most sensible change” is a judgement. Another student might prefer a different change. Opinion.
Statement (c): this is mixed. “Waste collection has already dropped” can be checked with collection records, so it is a fact. “Every class should compete” is a recommendation. Fact, then opinion.
Answer: (a) fact, (b) opinion, (c) fact followed by opinion.
The mistake to watch for
Mistaken answer: “Nearly everyone at school enjoys the new library, so this is a fact because it sounds so sure.”
The student trusted the confident tone. “Nearly everyone” is vague and cannot be checked as written, and “enjoys” is a feeling.
To turn it into a fact you would need a count, such as “a survey of 120 students found that 96 use the library weekly”. The correction is to judge the statement by how it could be checked, not by how certain it sounds.
Check yourself
Label each statement as fact, opinion or mixed.
1. “The canteen closes at 2 p.m., which is far too early.”
Show answer
Mixed. “Closes at 2 p.m.” can be checked. “Far too early” is a judgement.
2. “Online lessons will soon be better than classroom lessons.”
Show answer
Opinion. It is a prediction and a comparison of value, so it cannot be checked now.
3. “The marathon was held on the first Sunday of October.”
Show answer
Fact. The date could be confirmed from the event records. It would remain a fact even if the date were wrong.
Where this leads next
Next, see how to follow the words that point back to people and things in resolving a pronoun using context. When the five skills feel steady, test them together in the vocabulary and inference practice. The summary selection and paraphrase studio also shows how to separate a point from a colourful detail.
Learners who can spot opinions in class often still doubt themselves under time pressure. In online one-to-one English as a Second Language tuition, a teacher can rehearse that decision with you.