Quoting and disbelieving - Advanced | International House Bristol

In English there are a number of phrases that you can say when you are repeating something that somebody else said and showing that you don't believe or agree with the statement.

10 expressions to Use In Speaking And Writing:

(The UK Government) claims that...
(The UK Government) alleges that...
They are trying to convince us that...
They are asserting that...
According to (the government)...
If (the government) is to be believed...
If they are to be believed...
Supposedly...
Apparently...
The so-called (success of the project)...

How To Use These Phrases In Your English:

We use use phrase 1 to show that we don't believe the sentence that follows.
Phrase 2 is similar but is used before a sentence that criticises or accuses.. e.g. 'The police are alleging that I stole the money.'
Phrase 6 suggests that the statement is untrue but also that anything the government says is likely to be untrue.
Phrases 8 and 9 are sentence adverbs and can be used to distance yourself from the statement.
In phrase 10, the adjective 'so-called' is used before a noun that you think is incorrectly named. In the example, the speaker thinks that the 'success' was really a failure.

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