Similarity

Expressing similarity

similarly; in the same way

The roads are usually very crowded at the beginning of the holiday season. Similarly, there are often traffic jams at the end of the holidays.

We did everything to provide our daughters with a good education. In the same way, they put a high value on our grandchildren's education.

Emphasising a contrast

Stronger contrast

however; nevertheless; mind you; still; yet; in spite of this

Britain came last in the World Children's Games again. However, we did have one success with Annie Smith's world record in the egg and spoon race.

I don't like the job much. Mind you, the money's good.

He says he's not rich and yet he owns 3 houses and 4 cars.

It was foggy this morning. In spite of this, I managed toget to college on time.

It was foggy earlier but I still managed to get here on time.

Contrast

Balancing contrasting points


on the other hand; while; whereas


Arranged marriages are common in many Middle Eastern countries. In the West, on the other hand, they are unusual.


I like spending my holidays in the mountains, while/whereas my wife prefers the seaside.


While/whereas can be put before the first of 2 contrasting points,e.g.


While/whereas the English alphabet has 26 letters, English phonemic transcription has over 40 basic symbols.

People at College

The professor is a teacher who teaches in the university.

My lecturer is teaching me to prepare for the ILTS test.

Mr. Hedley is an English teacher at HCT.

We are students at HCT.

Mr.Roger is our supervisor in our English course.

The career advisors/counselors help the students to choose a job.

Dr.Simon is the director of ADMC.

Librarians help the students in their research.

A tutor gives a tutorial to a small group of students.

Colours

The red traffic light means stop.

All the local men wear white dishdashas.

Sheikh Zayed wanted to change the UAE from a desert to a green paradise.

In the fall/autumn all the leaves are brown.

He gave her a black look.

There were grey clouds in the sky and it looked like it was going to rain.

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you.

Orange juice is full of vitamin C.

Egg yolks and lemons are yellow.

Blue for a boy, pink for a girl.

She chose beige coloured furniture.

She was wearing a purple dress.

Car specifications

This table describes the different specifications of four types of car. It gives details of price, country of origin, engine capacity and fuel consumption.

Clearly, the most expensive of the four is the Volkswagen Golf. There is very little to choose between the other three. The German Volkswagen has the biggest engine at 1600cc. The Japanese Toyota Corolla and the American Ford Focus both have a capacity of 1400cc, with the Japanese Nissan Micra being the smallest in engine size with 1200cc. Not surprisingly, the smallest, the Micra, is the most economical in terms of fuel consumption and the Volkswagen the least so. Both the Ford and the Toyota are between the other two, and very similar in terms of fuel consumption.

As you'd expect, the biggest car, in terms of engine size, is the most expensive and uses most fuel as Volkswagen Golf, while the smallest, the Micra, is the cheapest in terms of both price and fuel costs.

Date Production in 2001

This bar chart tells us the world’s top ten date-producing countries in 2001. The total production of dates was about 5,780,000 tones in 2001, divided between ten countries.

The highest producer of dates is EGYPT with about 1,100,000 tones, followed by Iran with 880,000 tones. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are producing each between 760,000 and 780,000 tones. Iraq and Pakistan each are producing between 620,000 and 650,000 tones. Algeria supplied the world with about 400,000 tones and Oman about half of Algeria. These are followed by Sudan and Libya which supplied the world with under 200,000 tones.

Finally, EGYPT and Iran account for the majority of goods whilst Sudan and Libya are in the minority.