Main Practice: Words for similarities and differences
Revision: Relative Clauses - Present Participles
Vocabularyabsolutely - strong agreement; a strong 'yes', i.e.
- Are you really going ask the boss for longer breaks?- Absolutely, two ten-minute coffee breaks and a twenty-minute lunch in eight hours is not enough, in fact, it's *outrageous.
*
outrageous - shockingly bad, unacceptable
alike -
adjective: similar in appearance or character, i.e.
- The two brothers are very alike.
alike -
adverb: the same, i.e.
- The new college rules affect teaches and students alike.
quite alike - similar; almost the same, i.e.
- The two computers are quite alike but this one is faster.
both - two people or things considered together, i.e.
- I like both tennis and hockey.
- Both the rivers flow to the sea but only the northern one is polluted.
different from - not the same as another, or each other, i.e.
- Our new house is very different from our old house.
- My two grandmothers are very different from each other.
(a) fanatic - in this conversation: to be very enthusiastic about a past-time or hobby, i.e.
- She's a fanatic about chess. She spends all her free time practising the game.
- He's fanatical (adj) about computer games; he never does anything else but play them.
(to) have a lot in common - sharing attitudes or background, interests and likes with
another person, i.e.
- I have a lot in common with Alice: we grew up in the same town, went to the same school and we're both atheletes.
- The two scientific theories have a lot in common but only Professor Brown's became well-known.
Opposite: to have nothing in common
lively - full of energy, i.e.
- The town has a very lively night-life.
- It's nine o'clock but the children are still so lively; I can't get them to go to bed.
to be into something - to be enthusiastic about, to like something very much, i.e.
- Jan's really into classical music.- Alan's into tennis right now; he plays every day.neither - a negative statement which applies to two things or people, i.e.
- Neither of these mobile phones can access the internet.
- I'm not going to the party and neither is Jan.
- Neither car is cheap. (Both are expensive.)
- Would you like tea or coffee?- Neither, thank you, just water.outgoing - to be very sociable, i.e.
- He has an outgoing personality; he makes friends very easily.
- She was a very outgoing teenager but now she spends most of her time alone.
(a) sense of humour - to appreciate / enjoy humour, i.e.
- My brother is so serious about everything; he has no sense of humour.
- My mum has a great sense of humour: she sees the funny side of most things.
similar (to) - sharing qualities but not exactly the same, i.e.
- I didn't enjoy the novel; its the plot was too similar to the last book he wrote.
- She's similiar to her mother in many ways.
- Yes, the houses are very similar but ours has a bigger garden.