Comparing and contrasting language with the same meaning
Optional warmer: Choose two items from the vocab list your teacher gave you and use language below to describe similarities and differences between those words/ expressions, crossing off the language you use. Take turns doing the same, then when your teacher stops you, share one comparison you agreed on and see what the class thinks.
- absolutely identical
- almost completely different
- almost exactly the same
- almost identical
- almost the same
- antonyms
- basically the same
- complete opposites
- completely different
- don’t have much in common
- exact synonyms
- exactly the same
- have a lot in common
- have little in common
- have much in common
- have nothing in common
- have one similarity
- have quite a lot in common
- have some similarities
- have something in common
- have things in common
- have very little in common
- nearly the same
- only slightly different
- only very slightly different
- practically synonyms
- rather similar
- share one feature
- share some features
- totally different
- very different
- very nearly the same
- very similar
- virtually identical
Ask about any expressions above you aren’t sure about, trying to use them in example sentences each time.
Find expressions above which have the same meaning as each other. Any number of matches is possible.
Hint: There are 11 categories, and the biggest one has 6 with the same meaning.
Suggested answers
Other matches might be possible, so please check if you had different ideas.
- absolutely identical/ exactly the same/ exact synonyms
- very nearly the same/ only very slightly different/ almost exactly the same/ almost identical/ virtually identical/ practically synonyms
- basically the same/ almost the same/ nearly the same/ only slightly different
- very similar/ have much in common/ have a lot in common
- rather similar/ have quite a lot in common
- have things in common/ share some features/ have some similarities
- have something in common/ share one feature/ have one similarity
- very different/ have little in common/ don’t have much in common
- almost completely different/ have very little in common
- completely different/ totally different/ have nothing in common
- complete opposites/ antonyms
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