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?
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.
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
Many are exactly the same and so should go next to each other.
Mixed answers to “How similar are they?”/ “How different are they?”
- 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
Mixed answers to “How much… er is it (than…)?”/ “How much more… is it (than…)?”
- a great deal longer
- a little longer
- considerably longer
- far longer
- much longer
- quite a lot longer
- slightly longer
- somewhat longer
- substantially longer
Suggested answers
Other answers are possible, so please check with your teacher if you wrote something different. However, the ones with “NOT… X” are not correct English.
Answers to “How similar are they?”/ “How different are they?”
- 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 different
NOT – almost similar X slightly the same X very identical X a little similar X
Answers to “How much… er is it (than…)?”/ “How much more… is it (than…)?”
- 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
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