Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we’re saving the English language sixty seconds at a time! I’m
Lauren Smyth, and today’s tip is a little unusual in that it has (almost) nothing to do with grammar. Here
it is, condensed to just four words: Banish flabby opinion statements. Academic essays are always the
worst offenders here. "It appears to me ..." should never appear, but, sadly, it often does. Angels appear to
people. Opinions do not. Chances are good that you did not stumble on your opinion one day while
casually taking a stroll through a field of flowers. You thought about it, you argued for and against it, and
you went to the intellectual effort of forming and holding an original idea. Fight for it. "Argue" your
thesis statement. "Claim" your facts. "Acknowledge" your opponents. Don't "seem" or "appear" to be
"expressing." Do or do not. There is no "appearing."

That’s your Grammar Minute! Visit thegrammarminute.com for more tips and tricks.