How to .. be polite when disagreeing

Strong disagreement & softening   

Strong disagreement is relatively rare in English. We prefer the phrases of strong disagreement to be preceded by various ‘softeners’  in  order  to   sound  less   threatening. 

Although some expressions seem to suggest that you agree to a large extent, it usually means the contrary.

Examples of softeners:

I don’t completely agree with you on that.

I’m   not  totally  convinced  by your  argument.

I really must take issue with you here.

I can see your point of view, but surely ..

I can’t say that I share your view

You have a point there, but …

I can’t help feeling that ….

I take your point, Mr …, but have you considered…?

If you need to stop an argument as there seems to be no way to reach an agreement on the subject, two convenient  expressions are:

We’ll have to agree to disagree  or

We’ll have to agree to differ

Strong disagreeement expressions to avoid

The following expressions are to be   avoided when speaking with another person, especially when they are not close friends (except of course if the  intention is exactly to offend..)

I don’t agree at all

I totally/completely/wholly/utterly/disagree with you

You’re completely mistaken!

I disagree entirely

Under no circumstances could I agree to that.

Oh, that’s ridiculous!

You must be joking!

What you are saying is just not  feasible. You must be joking!

Nonsense! Rubbish!

There’s no evidence for that.

I don’t believe that at all

You don’t know what you are     talking about.

You’re completely wrong about that