Comparing and contrasting language the same or different game
Without looking below, listen to your teacher say two comparing expressions and race to show if you think they have exactly the same meaning or if they have different meanings, e.g. by raising one of the two cards they have given you.
When your teacher stops the listening game, label the lines below with S for the same or D for different. If there are more than two on one line, they are all the same or all different (not two the same and one different, etc).
Comparing and contrasting language to classify
- by far the biggest/ the biggest by far
- the biggest by a substantial margin/ the biggest by a fair way
- practically the same/ basically the same
- nearly the same/ almost identical
- very similar/ the same
- very similar/ almost the same/ slightly different
- exactly the same/ identical
- very different/ totally different
- much bigger/ far bigger/ a lot bigger
- the biggest by far/ by far the biggest
- considerably bigger/ substantially bigger
- 50% bigger/ one and half times the size
- not as big/ smaller
- not nearly as big/ much smaller
- nearly as big as/ around the same size as
- the only difference/ the sole difference
- the most obvious difference/ the most apparent difference
- a great difference/ a large difference/ a big difference
- a significant difference/ a substantial difference
- the only significant difference/ the only difference
- virtually identical/ very nearly the same
- no significant difference/ basically the same
- compared with these two locations/ comparing these two locations
- in contrast/ on the contrary
- in contrast/ on the other hand
- on the other hand/ nevertheless
- nonetheless/ nevertheless/ even though (all) that is true
- However,…/ …, but…
- despite…/ in spite of…
Check as a class, then test each other on the language:
- play the same quick reactions game in groups
- say two which are different and see if your partner can explain how they differ
- say one which has a synonym above and see if your partner can say something with the same meaning
- say two things from one line and see if your partner can compare them (using similar language to above for the actual comparison as well)
Cards for students to hold up
| The same | Different |
| The same | Different |
| The same | Different |
| The same | Different |
| The same | Different |
| The same | Different |
| The same | Different |
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