To put a claim forward tentatively rather than assert it flatly, use the past form of a modal - kunne, ville, skulle, måtte - with a present meaning. This distances you from the claim and is the standard register of Danish academic and debate writing.
Examples
- Man kunne hævde, at problemet er overdrevet.
- One could argue that the problem is exaggerated.
- Det ville være en fejl at ignorere disse tal.
- It would be a mistake to ignore these figures.
- Tallene skulle gerne underbygge min påstand.
- The figures ought to support my claim.
- Det måtte i så fald betyde, at analysen er forkert.
- That would in that case mean the analysis is wrong.
The mistake to avoid
Reading these past forms as real past tense - here kunne/ville mean "could/would" right now, not "was able to/wanted to".
Where this fits in
Logisk argumentation, Danish C1: Build a logical argument: claims, evidence, counterargument, persuasion.