Introduction: In your assignments you will often need to discuss similarities and differences.

To widen the range of words you use to express these concepts and to improve the style of your writing, you will need to go beyond basic terms such as like, similar, different and comparative adjective phrases like bigger than. The following table contains some of the most common words in this area. Look up the meanings of the words that you do not know.

Similarity / Equivalence

Difference / Inequality Adjectives alike analogous (to) comparable (to) consistent (with) equivalent (to) identical (to) Verbs contradict contrast (with) deviate (from) differ (from) differentiate diverge (from) vary Nouns discrepancy disparity diversity diverse Adjectives discrete disparate

Verbs
accord (with) conform (to) correspond (to) echo equate (to/with) mirror parallel

Nouns counterpart equality parity

Instructions: Fill in the blanks with a word from the table above. 1. The police discovered a ______________ between what the two witnesses said had happened. 2. Hong Kong ____________ from mainland China in many ways.

3. Some people find it difficult to ______________ between right and wrong. 4. In many developed countries there is a huge ________________ between the rich and poor. 5. Australia and New Zealand are _________________ in many ways. 6. Like their _______________ in Singapore, investors in Hong Kong lost money during the economic downturn. 7. In 20 years it is predicted that Shanghai will have achieved economic ____________with Hong Kong. 8. In many parts of the world ____________________of the sexes is just a distant dream. 9. Please ensure that you _____________ to the guidelines when preparing your submission. 10. The findings of my experiment generally _____________ to those of Chan (2001), although one of the readings is significantly different. 11. Each department in the university has its own ____________identity. 12. The experience of teaching kindergarten students is in a sense_____________ to baby sitting. 13. The range of opinions was so utterly_____________ that he found it hard to find a compromise.