How To Compare and Contrast

How to Compare and Contrast
In this section, you will look at the vocabulary and structures used to compare
and contrast information.
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
A simple way is to use comparative and superlative adjectives. As a quick

revision, look at this table.
Example Comparative Superlative

Words with one syllable Large Larger Largest
Words with three syllables Popular More popular The most popular
or more
Less popular The least popular
Words ending with -y Wealthy Wealthier The wealthiest
Short words ending with a Hot Hottest The hottest
vowel/consonant/vowel
Irregular Bad Worse The worst
➢ Here are some example sentences.
1. The amount of energy consumed was higher in January than February.

2. In 1990, the most popular meal with British teenagers was hamburgers.
3. The summer months are significantly hotter than spring.
4. The most dramatic fall was in 1995, when the rate of unemployment only
declined by 1%.
5. The largest increase was from 2014 to 2015 when there was an almost
twofold increase.
6. America is the wealthiest country in the table.
7. Spain had the lowest rate of infant mortality.
The Size of the Difference
Look at this sentence; ‘the birthrate is lower in Europe than Africa’. This
statement is too vague. Is the birthrate a lot lower, or only a little bit lower?
You can use the following vocabulary to describe the size of difference more
accurately.
• For big differences it is better to say, ‘the birth rate is far / much /
significantly….’ For small differences you can write ‘the birth rate is
slightly...’
• With superlatives, use the phrase ‘by far’. For example, ‘by far the highest’,
or ‘by far the lowest’.
• For data that is nearly identical you can say ‘similar’ or ‘almost the same’.
➢ This vocabulary is illustrated by describing this table. The following table

gives statistics showing the quality of life in five countries.
Country GNI per head Daily calorie Life Infant

(2015: US supply per expectancy at mortality
Dollars) head birth (years) (per 1000 live
births)
Australia 45,300 3,200 83 4
Serbia 13,400 2,700 76 6
South Africa 12,900 2,900 63 33
Tanzania 2,600 2,000 62 42
1. Overall, the quality of life in Australia was far higher than the other three
countries.
2. Australia had by far the highest GNI at just over 45,000 dollars. It also had a
much higher daily calorie intake and life expectancy.
3. While Serbia and South Africa had a similar GNI at approximately 13,000,
South Africa’s infant mortality rate was over five times higher.
4. Tanzania had by far the lowest GNI, at just over 2500. However, its life
expectancy was almost the same as South Africa’s.
Transitions
You are likely to get a better score in this task if you write long sentences that
compare and contrast information. Using transitions is a great way to do this.
The following vocabulary will be illustrated by describing this bar chart.
The percentage of Austrlian people giving money to charity

by age range for the years 1995 and 2015
45
40
35
30
25 1995
20
15 2015
10
5
0
18-25 26-35 36-50 51-65 >65
Compared to / compared with / in comparison with
The grammar is the same for these three phrases. They can be used at the
beginning or in the middle of sentences.
The proportion of people aged 18-25 who donated to charity was very high in
1995 compared to/ compared with / in comparison with 2015.
Compared to / compared with / in comparison with 2015, the proportion of

people aged 18-25 who donated to charity was high in 1995.
While
This is another way of comparing data. I recommend using it with numbers.
Over a third of elderly people donated to charity while only seven percent of
18-25-year olds did.
While only seven percent of people aged 18-25 donated to charity, over a third
of elderly people did.
In contrast
Use this phrase to show a big difference.
The proportion of people aged 18-25 who donated to charity was low in
contrast to people aged 36 and over.
Note: the word stark. It means ‘big’ and is commonly used with ‘in contrast’.
In stark contrast to people aged 36 and over, people aged 18-25 gave little to
charity.
However / On the other hand
These words can also be used to show contrasting information.
The proportion of people aged 51-65 who donated to charity decreased

moderately; however, the proportion of those aged 65 and over rose slightly.
Over the period, the percentage of people who gave money to charity
decreased significantly. On the other hand, people aged 65 and over donated
slightly more.
Similar
Use this word to show that two things are very alike. You can use the adjective
(similar) or the adverb (similarly).
In 1995, the figures for people aged 36-50 an 51-65 were similar, at around
40%.
Similarly, the figures for people aged 36-50 and 51-65 were 42 and 40 percent
respectively.
Respectively – This word is used to show that the first name refers to the
first number and the second name to the second number, etc.
Similarly, the figures for people aged 36-50 and 51-65 were 42 and 40 percent
respectively.
In the above example, it means that the figure for people aged 36-50 was 42,
and for people aged 51-65 it was 40. Using this sentence structure is a great
way to increase your grammar and vocabulary score.
Other Useful Structures
Here are some more useful structures using than and as. They are illustrated
by describing the following table. The table gives information on consumer
spending on different items in five different countries in 2002.
Percentage of national consumer expenditure by category
Country Food/Drinks/ Clothing/ Leisure/

Tobacco Footwear Education
Denmark 17.53% 7.79% 4.23%
France 26.12% 7.53% 4.37%
Portugal 19.87% 8.60% 2.01%
Turkey 31.15% 6.68% 4.55%
UK 23.87% 5.89% 3.67%
1. more / less… than
Turkish people spent far more on food, drink and tobacco than British people.
2. … (number) times more… than (2 and 3 are the same)
French people spent over three times more on food, drink and tobacco than
clothing.
3. … (twice, three times, four times etc.) as many/much … as….
Danish people spent nearly twice as much on food and clothing as leisure
activities and education.
4. (nearly) the same … as…
French people spent nearly the same proportion of money on clothing and
footwear as people from Denmark.

How To Compare and Contrast

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How to Compare and Contrast

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

A simple way is to use comparative and superlative adjectives. As a quick

Example Comparative Superlative

➢ Here are some example sentences.

1. The amount of energy consumed was higher in January than February.

➢ This vocabulary is illustrated by describing this table. The following table

Country GNI per head Daily calorie Life Infant

The percentage of Austrlian people giving money to charity

Compared to / compared with / in comparison with

Compared to / compared with / in comparison with 2015, the proportion of

This is another way of comparing data. I recommend using it with numbers.

Use this phrase to show a big difference.

However / On the other hand

These words can also be used to show contrasting information.

The proportion of people aged 51-65 who donated to charity decreased

Percentage of national consumer expenditure by category

Country Food/Drinks/ Clothing/ Leisure/

1. more / less… than

2. … (number) times more… than (2 and 3 are the same)

3. … (twice, three times, four times etc.) as many/much … as….

4. (nearly) the same … as…

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