Ask your partner about the similarities and differences between some things using questions like those below
- Is… (exactly) the same as…?/ Are… and… (really) identical?
- Is… similar to…?
- What’s the difference between… and…?
- What do… and… have in common?
- How similar are… and…?
- How different are… and…?
- How much… er is … than…?/ How much more… is… than…?
What kinds of phrases can you use to answer the last three questions?
Do the tasks on the next page to help come up with more suitable phrases.
———————————————————
Brainstorm and arrange the comparing and contrasting phrases
Try to fill the gaps below with as many phrases as you can in order. If you think they are the same, put them next to each other like the examples given below.
1 Answers to “How similar are they?”/ “How different are they?”
absolutely identical/ exactly the same
completely different/ totally different
- Answers to “How much… er is it (than…)?”/ “How much more… is it (than…)?”
much much longer
a tiny bit longer
———————————–
Mixed up answers
NB: many are exactly the same and so should go next to each other
Absolutely identical/ Exactly the same
almost completely different
almost exactly the same
almost identical
almost the same
basically the same
nearly the same
only slightly different
only very slightly different
practically the same
fairly similar
rather similar
remarkably similar
surprisingly different
surprisingly similar
very different
very nearly the same
very similar
virtually identical
Completely different/ Totally different
much much longer
a great deal longer
a little longer
considerably longer
far longer
much longer
quite a lot longer
slightly longer
somewhat longer
substantially longer
a tiny bit longer
————————————–
Suggested answers
Other answers are possible, especially distinguishing between ones which are said to be the same below, so please check with your teacher if you wrote something different.
- absolutely identical/ exactly the same
- very nearly the same/ only very slightly different/ almost exactly the same/ almost identical/ virtually identical
- practically the same/ basically the same/ almost the same/ nearly the same/ only slightly different
- remarkably similar/ surprisingly similar
- very similar
- rather similar
- fairly similar
- very different
- surprisingly different
- almost completely different
- completely different/ totally differentNOT – almost similar X slightly the same X very identical X a little similar X
- much much longer
- a great deal longer/ far longer/ much longer
- considerably longer/ substantially longer
- quite a lot longer
- somewhat longer
- a little longer/ slightly longer
- a tiny bit longer
NOT quite longer X
——————————————————–
PDF version for easy saving and printing: Comparing and contrasting questions and answers
TEFLtastic 