Speaking: disagreeing
Intermediate to advanced level (B2-C2)

In some cultures it is common to disagree with someone quite directly. In English, while this is possible, most of the time people are pretty careful how they offer a different opinion.

In a situation where a business colleague proposes to stop offering a service or product line, here is how you could disagree mildly:

I have a feeling we should continue with it until next year.
You’re probably right but perhaps we need to wait until Max has produced his report.

or more strongly:

I’m not so sure about that. Many of our customers rely on us and if we discontinue we’ll lose a lot of goodwill.
To be honest I doubt that would make a great deal of sense at the moment.

or even more strongly:

I’m pretty sure we shouldn’t do that at this stage.
I feel quite strongly we should leave things as they are.

There are many ways to disagree but usually we use some kind of introduction to soften what we are going to say even when we are disagreeing strongly. Of course, it is possible to simply say ‘I disagree’ but it can be much too direct and insufficiently diplomatic.

Some vocabulary to check:

pretty
offer an opinion
propose
mildly
rely on someone
lose goodwill
leave things as they are
insufficiently