Hello. My name is Emma, and in today's video,
I am going to teach you some key words you can use when you talk about how things are the
same or similar. Okay? So when you compare two things -- when you're comparing apples
and oranges, there are some similarities. They're both fruits. When you're comparing
shopping to skiing, when you're comparing a city to a country or the countryside -- there
is a certain language we like to use when we're saying how these things are similar or
the same. In this video, I'm going to teach you a bunch of expressions you can use when
comparing two things to show their similarities. Okay? So this video is called
"Talking about similarities". So for this video, I decided I wanted to do
a theme. I wanted to look at how Canada and England are similar. In what ways are they
very much alike? Okay? So each of my sentences are going to have to do with Canada and England,
and we're going to look at how they're alike using these comparison words. So for those of you watching, if you are doing
the TOEFL, these words are essential. If you are doing the IELTS -- very important vocabulary
here. General English, you can use these at university for essays, college, or even just
general conversation. So let's get started. Okay. So how are Canada and England the same?
Well, I would say, first of all, both Canada and England have a queen. Both Canada and
England have Queen Elizabeth. So one word we often use when we're talking about similarities
is this word, "both". Both Canada and England have a queen. Both Canada and England have
trees. Both Canada and England have cities. Okay? So there are a lot of different things
you can compare. This is just one of them. Now, I want to say why I wrote the word "beginning"
here. "Both" often comes at the beginning of a sentence. And notice how the construction
is. We have both A and B. Another example, "Both cats and dogs are animals." "Both hamsters
and mice are rodents." Okay? So we use this a lot when we're comparing. We can also say "like". In this case, we're not
saying, "I like Canada" or "I like" -- you know, showing preference -- we're again showing
similarity. "Like Canada, England has many immigrants." Canada has many immigrants. England
has many immigrants. "Like Canada, England has many immigrants." And again, you'll notice
"like" is at the beginning of the sentence. It's often -- not always, but often -- at the
beginning. We have it followed by a noun. I could change this to something else. Imagine
if I wanted to compare cats and dogs. "Like cats, dogs have fur." Okay? I could
say that. If I'm comparing men and women, "Like women, men are human." Okay? It's not the
greatest of comparisons, but you can use these types of words when you're comparing.
Okay? So now, I have some other things I want to
compare. In England, they speak English. In Canada, we also speak English. Not everybody,
but many Canadians speak English. Some speak French, but a lot of people speak English.
So I'm going to teach you some words you can use when comparing these two sentences. "In
England, they speak English. Similarly, in Canada many people speak English, too. In
comparison, in Canada many people also speak English. In the same way, in Canada many people
speak English." And finally, another way similar to this but slightly different, "Likewise,
in Canada many people speak English." So these are a little bit different from these
ones. They all mean how they are the same. But you'll notice one of the differences here
is these are followed by a comma. "Likewise, comma." And then, we have the rest of the
sentence. These go at the beginning of the sentence. Okay? In case you can't tell, this
is a period. So we have our first sentence, "In England, they speak English. Similarly,
in Canada many people speak English." Okay? So you can use these in your writing. They would
really, really help on your TOEFL, IELTS, or university essays to
help you get a better mark. One other thing to say about these, just to
give another example -- let's use cats and dogs because it's easier. If we wanted to
compare cats and dogs, maybe we could talk about how they're great pets. People love
cats; people love dogs. Okay? Maybe you don't like them, but just for the example. So we
can say, "Dogs are great pets. Similarly, cats are also great pets. Dogs are great pets.
In comparison, cats are also great pets. In the same way, cats are great pets.
Or likewise." Okay? So now, let's look at some more of these types
of expressions. Okay. Before we move on to some comparison words that you can use in
the middle of a sentence, I just wanted to add one note about "in comparison". Okay? "In
comparison" is also used with differences. When you compare two things, you're saying
how they're alike. But sometimes, because of the way we use the word, "in comparison"
can also be used when we're showing things that are different. It's used
in both of these ways. Okay? So now, let's look at some sentences -- the
middle of some sentences, some new words we can use. The first one I want to teach you
is "is similar to". Okay? And the key here is preposition. A lot of the times, students
don't put the right preposition. So they'll say "is similar of", "is similar for". In
this case, it's "to". "Canada is similar to England." This is one way to show equality
or similarity. "Cats are similar to dogs." Okay? Another example, we can also say "is the
same as". "Canada is the same as England." This is a little stronger than "is similar to"
because you're saying they're pretty much the same. A lot of people would disagree, but
just another word, "is the same as". Okay. So let's use some of these together. I have
here a blank. "England -- the USA" What similar word or what comparing word can we use here?
Take a moment to think. We could say, "England is similar to the USA" Do you agree with
that? I don't know. Tell me what you think. Let's look at B. "In England, people speak
English -- in the USA" So what could we add here? "In England, people speak English -- in
the USA." So there's actually a mistake here. We'll add "people
also speak English. Okay. So what could we put over here?
There are many different things we could put. We could
put "similarly"; we could put "likewise". Okay? "In comparison." There are many
different words we could use here. Finally, let's try the last one. "Blank -- England,
the USA is very multicultural." Meaning there are people from all over the word living there.
What could we say here? That's right, "like". "Like England, the USA
is very multicultural." So thank you for watching this video. I invite you
to come check out our website at www.engvid.com. There, you can practice all of these words
in our quiz. You can make sure that you're using the correct preposition, the correct
words in the correct ways. So I invite you to come visit our website. Also, you can subscribe
to my videos. There are a lot of different resources on grammar, vocabulary,
pronunciation, and many more things. So until next time, take care.
