English
What is the difference between fact and opinion?
Quick answer
A fact is something that can be checked and proved true or false. An opinion is what someone thinks or feels, and other people may disagree.
In one sentence
A fact can be checked and proved; an opinion is a personal view that people can reasonably disagree with.
Explained
Mount Kilimanjaro is in Tanzania is a fact. You can look it up on a map or in a reliable reference book. Mount Kilimanjaro is the most beautiful mountain in the world is an opinion. You might agree, but someone else could prefer another mountain, and neither of you can prove it.
Ask yourself: Could I check this? If the answer is yes, using measurements, records, reference books or observations, it is a factual statement. If it depends on someone's taste, feelings or beliefs, it is an opinion.
Opinions often contain clue words:
- thinking words: I think, I believe, I feel, in my view
- judging words: best, worst, amazing, boring, delicious, beautiful
- should words: should, ought to, must (when giving advice or demands)
Facts often contain dates, numbers, names, places and measurable details: The race is 5 kilometres long.
Two trickier points for older readers. First, a statement can be factual but false: The Sun goes round the Earth can be checked, and it is wrong. That makes it an incorrect claim, not an opinion. Second, many sentences mix fact and opinion: The new park, which opened in May, is wonderful. The opening date is a fact; wonderful is an opinion.
Spotting the difference matters in adverts, reviews, news and persuasive writing, which often present opinions as if they were facts. When you are unsure, check with a trusted adult, a library book or a reliable source together.
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Examples
| Statement | Fact or opinion? |
|---|---|
| Water freezes at 0 °C. | fact |
| Winter is the best season. | opinion |
| Our school has 300 pupils. | fact (it can be counted) |
| Homework should be banned. | opinion |
| Spiders have eight legs. | fact |
| Spiders are scary. | opinion |
Common mistakes
- Believing something is a fact because lots of people say it. Popularity is not proof.
- Thinking a strong-sounding opinion is a fact. Everyone knows this is the best phone is still an opinion.
- Calling every false statement an opinion. False claims can be checked; they are just wrong.
Quick quiz
Fact and opinion
Check what you know with 4 quick questions.
Question 1 of 4
Which is a fact?
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Related topics
Persuasive writing
Persuasive writing tries to convince the reader to agree with a view or take an action, using clear reasons, evidence and carefully chosen language.
Inference
Inference means working out something the writer has not said directly, using clues in the text plus what you already know. It is often called reading between the lines.
Summarising
Summarising means retelling the most important ideas of a text briefly, in your own words, leaving out small details and examples.
Context clues
Context clues are hints in the words around an unfamiliar word that help you work out its meaning, such as a definition, a synonym, an opposite or an example.
Persuasive techniques
Persuasive techniques are tools writers, speakers and advertisers use to convince an audience, such as rhetorical questions, emotive language, facts, the rule of three and ethos, pathos and logos.
Thesis statements
A thesis statement is one or two sentences, usually at the end of an essay's introduction, that state the main claim the whole essay will prove, often with the reasons why.