Fact versus Opinion

Government work runs on the difference between fact and opinion. An investigation report that mixes "the check was encashed on May 4" with "the cashier is clearly dishonest" is a defective report, and the CSE Professional tests whether you can keep the two apart. Items come in two forms: standalone ("Which of the following statements is an opinion?") and passage-based ("Which sentence from the passage states a fact?"). Both are solved by one test applied carefully.

The verifiability test

A fact is a statement that can be checked against evidence and found true or false. An opinion is a statement of judgment, preference, or prediction that cannot be settled by checking alone.

Ask of every statement: could a diligent clerk, given enough access, verify this by looking at records, measuring, counting, or observing?

• "The regional office received 1,240 applications in March." Verifiable: count the logbook. Fact.
• "The regional office is the most efficient in the country." Not settled by any single record; "most efficient" depends on how you define and weigh efficiency. Opinion.

Two refinements keep the test honest:

1. A false statement can still be a factual statement. "The Philippines has 90 provinces" is wrong (there are 82), but it is a statement of fact because it can be checked and disproved. Exam items rarely hinge on this, but the definition matters: factual means checkable, not true.
2. A widely shared opinion is still an opinion. "Rice is the most important crop in the Philippines" feels obvious, but "most important" is a judgment unless the passage defines it (say, by hectarage or value), in which case it becomes checkable.

Opinion markers

Certain words are flags that a judgment has entered the sentence. Train your eye to catch them.

Marker type	Examples
Evaluative adjectives	best, worst, beautiful, disgraceful, impressive, unfair
Degree judgments	too many, excessive, insufficient, barely adequate
Obligation words	should, must, ought to, needs to, deserves
Probability and prediction	probably, likely, will surely, is bound to
Belief verbs	I believe, we feel, many think, it seems, arguably
Superlatives without measure	greatest, most important, finest

Caution: markers are clues, not verdicts. "The proposal will probably pass" is opinion (prediction). But "The committee said the proposal will probably pass" is a fact about what the committee said; the opinion is quoted inside a checkable report. This attribution twist is a favorite CSE trap and is covered below.

Worked example 1: standalone item

Question: Which of the following statements is an OPINION? (a) The municipal library is open from Monday to Saturday. (b) The library added 1,500 books to its collection in 2025. (c) The library's reading program is the most worthwhile project of the town. (d) The library building has two floors and a basement.

Run the verifiability test. (a) check the posted schedule and observe. (b) count acquisition records. (d) look at the building. All checkable. (c) contains "most worthwhile," a superlative judgment with no measure that could settle it; two reasonable people could disagree forever. The answer is (c).

Worked example 2: judgment words hiding in plain sentences

Question: Which of the following statements is a FACT? (a) The new terminal decongested the city's traffic remarkably well. (b) Commuters deserve a better transport system than the present one. (c) The new terminal, opened in January, has 36 bus bays and 12 jeepney lanes. (d) Building the terminal was the wisest decision the city ever made.

(a) smuggles in "remarkably well," a degree judgment; whether the decongestion counts as remarkable is not checkable. (b) "deserve" and "better" are judgments. (d) "wisest" is a superlative opinion. (c) offers only checkable items: an opening date and counts of bays and lanes. The answer is (c). Notice the pattern: the fact choice is often the most boring sentence. Boring is checkable.

Mixed statements

Professional-level items often present sentences that are part fact, part opinion, and ask what the sentence as a whole is. The rule: one judgment word makes the whole statement an opinion for exam purposes, because the statement as written can no longer be fully verified.

• "The 4.2-kilometer farm road, which cost 18 million pesos, was an extravagant waste." The length and cost are facts; "extravagant waste" is a verdict. As a whole: opinion.
• "The seminar, attended by 85 employees, ran from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m." Every element checkable. Fact.

When an item asks you to identify which PART of a sentence is opinion, isolate the judgment phrase specifically.

Worked example 3: mixed statement

Question: "Typhoon signal number 3 was raised over the province on Tuesday, a decision that was plainly too hasty." Which best describes this statement? (a) Entirely fact (b) Entirely opinion (c) Fact about the signal being raised, opinion that the decision was too hasty (d) Opinion about the signal being raised, fact that the decision was hasty

The first clause is checkable against weather bureau bulletins: fact. "Plainly too hasty" judges the decision: opinion. The answer is (c). Choice (d) reverses the labels; hastiness is never a checkable quantity.

The attribution twist

Wrapping an opinion in a reporting verb creates a factual statement about speech:

• "Councilor Diwa said the budget is shamefully bloated." Fact (did she say it? check the minutes).
• "The budget is shamefully bloated." Opinion.

The exam tests this both ways. When a choice begins with "According to the report..." or "The mayor stated that...", classify the sentence by asking what would be verified: the saying, or the content. If the sentence only claims that someone said something, it is factual in form. But read carefully: "Councilor Diwa correctly said the budget is bloated" sneaks the author's own endorsement in through "correctly," making it opinion again.

Application to news-style passages

CSE passages often imitate news reports, where facts and opinions interleave. Apply these habits:

• Lead sentences ("The city opened its first materials recovery facility on Friday") are usually factual.
• Quotes carry the opinions; the frame around them is factual reporting.
• Watch the reporter's own adjectives. "The long-overdue facility" editorializes inside a news sentence; "long-overdue" is the writer's judgment.
• Predictions ("The facility is expected to cut hauling costs") are opinions or forecasts even when attributed vaguely; "is expected to" hides the judge.

Worked example 4: passage-based item

(1) The provincial government launched its coastal greening program in Barangay Talisay on Monday. (2) Some 3,000 mangrove propagules were planted along a 1.5-kilometer stretch by volunteers from four schools. (3) The program is easily the most meaningful environmental effort the province has seen in a decade. (4) Provincial environment officer Liza Ramos said survival rates in similar sites reached 70 percent.

Question: Which sentence expresses an opinion of the writer? (a) Sentence 1, (b) Sentence 2, (c) Sentence 3, (d) Sentence 4.

Sentences 1 and 2 report checkable events and counts. Sentence 4 reports what Ramos said, checkable against her statement. Sentence 3 declares the program "easily the most meaningful," a superlative judgment in the writer's own voice. The answer is (c).

Common traps

• Numbers do not guarantee fact. "An outrageous 18 million pesos was spent" has a number and an opinion; the adjective decides.
• Precision does not guarantee fact. "The project improved lives by at least 40 percent" sounds measured, but "improved lives" has no agreed measure.
• Feelings reported as facts. "Residents are unhappy with the reroute" is checkable in principle (survey them), so it can be a fact; "residents are justifiably unhappy" adds the writer's verdict.
• "Should" statements are always opinions. No record can verify an obligation.
• Do not judge truth, judge checkability. Your task is never whether the statement is correct, only whether it is the kind of statement that evidence could settle.

Exam strategy

1. Scan each choice for marker words: superlatives, should/must, evaluative adjectives, predictions. Mark every choice that has one.
2. If asked for the opinion, the marked choice is your answer; if asked for the fact, eliminate all marked choices and verify the survivor is fully checkable.
3. For attributed statements, ask: does the sentence claim someone said it (fact) or assert the content directly (classify the content)?
4. For mixed statements, remember: one judgment word tips the whole sentence to opinion unless the item asks you to split it.
5. In passage items, suspect the sentence with the most colorful language; writers editorialize in adjectives.

Master the verifiability question, "could a clerk check this?", and this item type becomes one of the most reliable scores on your exam.