Speaking English - Discussing Advantages & Disadvantages

Hi. My name is Rebecca, and in today's vocabulary lesson, you'll have a chance to learn a variety

of expressions to discuss the positive and negative aspects of any subject or topic.

Okay? So let's have a look at the board. You can use the expressions that I'm going to

teach you in a few minutes in verbal situations or in written situations. Okay? So you can

use them in conversations, in discussions, presentations, or debates. You can also use

them when you're writing academic papers or assignments. You can use them in business

reports and also in personal or professional email. Okay? So how do we discuss what are

the terms we can use to discuss or describe the positive and negative aspects of something?

So here are some of the expressions you can use. We can say "advantages" and "disadvantages".

That's used very often, and many people do know that. You're familiar with that. But

I'm going to show you some other words you can use in exactly the same way.

You can also say "pros" and "cons". So "pros" means the positive aspects, and "cons" means

the negative aspects. Okay? Of any topic or problem or policy or issue that you're discussing.

We can also use the term "benefits" and "drawbacks". Okay? Again, "benefits" are the positive;

"drawbacks" are the negative. You can use the term "positive" and "negative" aspects.

Positive aspects of an issue, the negative aspects of a decision, let's say. Okay?

You could also say the "plus points" and the "minus points". It means exactly the same

thing. Basically, everything on this side means the positive side. All the expressions

or words on that side mean the negative side. Okay?

You can also say the "pluses" and "minuses". Okay? Or you could say the "upside" of the

issue or the "downside". Okay? Let's see how we can use these in some sentences.

So, you could say, for example, "What are the advantages and disadvantages of this new

law?" "Let's discuss the pros and cons of the marketing campaign." "Let's list the

benefits and drawbacks of the proposed policy." "The article discusses the positive and negative

aspects of the recent political changes." Next one, "Let's compare the plus points

and the minus points of the newly released product." "This essay contrasts the pluses

and minuses of private school education." The last one, "There's always an upside and

downside to every decision or change in life." Okay?

So now you see how to use these terms and expressions when you're discussing various

types of questions. You could be discussing an issue, you could be writing an essay, you

could be having a debate, and these expressions will come in very, very handy.

Now, the only one point I would like to make is that this is the only one, pros and cons,

which you have to use together. In other words, you have to say something like, "Let's discuss

the pros and cons of this new policy." You cannot say, really, we don't use it this way,

"Let's discuss the pros of this policy" or "Let's discuss the cons of this policy." We

don't usually use it like that at all. But with all of the other expressions, you can

use them either together or separately. So you could say, "Let's discuss the benefits

of this change." "Let's discuss the drawbacks." "Let's discuss the plus points." "Let's talk

about the minus points." Okay? So the rest of them, you could use either together or

separately, but not this one. Okay?

So if you'd like to do a quiz on this or many other aspects of English, please go to our

website, www.engvid.com. Thanks for watching, and good luck with your English. Bye for now.