CONTRAST

DIFFERENCE AS A NOUN
Here are some nouns you can use with the same meaning:
difference
contrast
distinction
You can use them in the following ways:
There is/are
There is a huge contrast between South Korea's and Sierra Leone's education
There are a few differences between South Korea and Sierra Leone in education
Another difference between.. X.. and ...Y.. is NOUN
contrast
distinction
Another distinction between South Korea and Sierra Leone is GDP per person.
A comparison between.. X.. and ..Y.. reveals
ADJ differences in NOUN
shows
demonstrates
A comparison between Sierra Leone and South Korea reveals significant differences in
education, health and economy.
DIFFERENCE AS A VERB
differ
......X.............and .....y...... differ in NOUN
South Korea and Sierra Leone differ in quality of health care.
NOUN differs in ...X.........and .Y....
Quality of health care differs in South Korea and Sierra Leone

DIFFERENCE AS AN ADJECTIVE
.X......... and ....Y.... are different in.....NOUN
South Korea and Sierra Leone are different in education spending.
NOUN... is different in ..X........ and ....Y
Education spending is different in Sierra Leone and South Korea.
X... is different from... Y... in NOUN
South Korea is different from Sierra Leone in education spending.
DIFFERENCE USING A PHRASE+NOUN
Instead of
Instead of ..NOUN.. like ...X.. VERB, Y.. VERB + NOUN
VERB+ING (GERUND) like X, Y VERB+ NOUN..
Instead of a high literacy rate like Korea has, Sierra Leone has a low literacy rate.
Instead of providing sanitation for all like the Korean government, Sierra Leone's
government provides limited sanitation.
Unlike
Unlike X, Y..VERB+ NOUN
Unlike South Korea, Sierra Leone has poor hospitals.
Unlike X+ADJ CLAUSE, Y.. VERB+NOUN
Unlike South Korea where children are not born underweight, Sierra Leone has many
underweight children.
Unlike South Korea which provides sanitation for all, Sierra Leone provides weak
sanitation.
Compared to/with
In comparison with
In contrast with/to
(follow the same rules as unlike)
Compared to South Korea, Sierra Leone has poor hospitals.

In comparison with South Korea, Sierra Leone has a weak economy.

In contrast to South Korea, Sierra Leone has poor hospitals.
ADVERB TRANSITIONS
When you use the words below, it does not make the following clause dependent. This
means you have to start a new sentence or put a semicolon before the transition. Use
these after you have told us about X (the first noun). Use the transition and then tell us
about Y.
However,
In contrast,
On the other hand,
South Korea's adult obesity rate is .... In contrast, Sierra Leone's adult obesity rate is
...
South Korea's adult obesity rate is.. ; in contrast, Sierra Leone's adult obesity rate is...
DIFFERENCE: COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
The words below connect two independent clauses.
but
yet (yet can also mean time, but here it means contrast)
Mention X then use a comma and tell us about Y.
Sierra Leone has child labor, yet South Korea does not.
DIFFERENCE : SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS = ADVERB CLAUSES
When you use the words below, it makes the following clause dependent. This means
you have to connect it to an independent clause. If you do not, you will have a fragment.
While (while can also mean time, but here it means contrast)
whereas
While X+VERB+ NOUN, Y+VERB+NOUN
While Sierra Leone has low literacy, South Korea does not.
While NOUN+VERB in ...X.., NOUN+VERB in....Y..
While access to clean water is high in South Korea, it is poor in Sierra Leone.
Whereas follows the same rules.

You can use while in the second clause. It doesn't matter.

Sierra Leone has low literacy while South Korea does not.

ADVERB CLAUSES : UNEXPECTED OR COMPARING APPLES WITH APPLES

Use the following when there is an unexpected result, or when you are contrasting
something within the same topic.
Even though
Although
These expressions do not work when you discuss something completely different. Use
this to discuss differences between apples, not to contrast apples and oranges. When you
compare apples and oranges, use any other contrast expressions.
For example:
Even though South Korea spends little on education, it achieves impressive results.
[This is surprising(unexpected). We are also staying in one subject, Korean education
(we are comparing apples with apples).]

Here is an example where 'even though' does not work.

Even though South Korea spends little on education, the U.S.A spends a lot on defense.
[This sentence is comparing apples (South Korea) and oranges (U.S.A). It is also
comparing apples (education) with oranges (defense).]

ADVERB TRANSITIONS: APPLES TO APPLES OR UNEXPECTED RESULTS

Nevertheless
Nonetheless
Nevertheless and nonetheless must be used after you have first introduced the topic, so
use these words in the second clause.
Korea spends little on education. Nevertheless, it achieves impressive results.
Remember the punctuation for these words follows the same rules as 'however'. These
words do not make a clause dependent. Use the correct punctuation; period or semicolon before.
Korea spends little on education; nonetheless, it achieves impressive results.
Korea spends little on education. Nonetheless, it achieves impressive results.
ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE DIFFERENCES
Realize that size and importance can often be used to have the same meaning. If you say
something is a major difference I will probably think it is a big difference. Remember
that you can use most of these as adverbs (for example: 'Their economies differ
significantly' or 'They are clearly different in education'). Use these words for a more
precise, academic sound.
SIZE
slight
noticeable
substantial/considerable
considerable
dramatic/startling/shocking
huge/massive/vast

NUMBER
a few
several
many

CLARITY
sharp
clear

IMPORTANCE
minor
significant
major
fundamental/essential
key/vital

GIVING EXAMPLES
For example
For instance
To illustrate
A perfect illustration is...........

Created by T. Kozumplik