In (actual) fact 是大家所熟知的片語，意為「事實上，實際上」(與 actually 同義)，旨在提供某種訊息來強調已經說過的某事或某物，如 James doesn’t like Judy; in fact, he hates her. (詹姆斯並不喜歡茱蒂；事實上他討厭她)；I think so; in actual fact, I am quite sure. (我想如此；事實上我十分相信如此)。
In point of fact 與 in fact 完全同義，只是字數比較多。它有一項好處，就是比 in fact 更能喚起注意，亦即更具強調作用，如 Lynn said she would pay, but in point of fact she has no money. (琳恩說她要付錢，但實際上她並沒有錢)。然而，一般大多將它視為累贅的片語，因此其受歡迎的程度自 1800 年代以來一直在滑落中。
As a matter of fact 與 in fact 和 in point of fact 皆為同義詞，它的使用頻率比 in point of fact 略高一點，但還落後 in fact 一大截，如 Kelly’s not a poor worker. As a matter of fact, she’s very efficient. (凱莉不是個差勁的員工。其實她很有效率)。然而，在口語中，as a matter of fact 比 in fact 要常用得多，旨在表示不贊同某人說過的某事或某物，如 “Warren’s too young for the job.” “Well, he’s older than you, as a matter of fact.” (「華倫做這工作太年輕了」「哦，其實他年紀還比你大呢」)。I did vote for her, as a matter of fact. (事實上，我真的把票投給她)。
另外，as a matter of fact 中的 matter of fact 若加上連字號就變成形容詞，意為「就事論事的；實事求是的；切合實際的；講求實際的；不流露感情的」，如 Duke talked about his experiences as an English teacher in Taiwan in a very matter-of-fact way. (杜克就事論事地談到他在台灣當英文老師的經歷)；His reply was matter-of-fact. (他的回答切合實際)；a matter-of-fact tone/voice (不帶感情的聲調/語氣)。這個字的副詞為 matter-of-factly，名詞為 matter-of-factness。