In the video, the students at the British Council School ask Vicky Losada what she thinks are the biggest differences between living in Spain and living in the UK.

Vicky talks about two specific differences. From the following list, can you find the things that Vicky spoke about?

Language for talking about differences

In many English speaking exams, candidates are asked to describe similarities and differences.

Here are 5 ways that you can describe differences:

The food in Spain is really different from the food in the UK.

This is the easiest way to say that two things are different. Note that we say different from.

In the video, Vicky said that the weather is way different. This means really different or very different. The word way can be used as an informal intensifier. It’s most commonly used with comparative adjectives and means much or a lot. Here are some examples:

Rome is way older than London.

People in the Netherlands are way taller than people in Sri Lanka.

The weather in Spain is not the same as the weather in the UK.

Another way to say that something is different is to say that it is not the same. If two things are the same, you can say use the phrase the same as. We often use this phrase when talking about prices. If you are in a restaurant, you might hear: The cheeseburger is the same price as the pasta. This means that they cost the same amount. It’s common to use the negative form to say that there’s a difference: The steak is not the same price as the pasta.

The traffic in Cairo is nothing like the traffic in London.

This is very similar to the previous form. However, we use this to say that something is very different. If something is like something else, then it is similar. You can use this form in a negative sentence and say: The weather in Spain is not like the weather in the UK. You can also use the phrase in a much stronger form and say something is nothing like another thing. For example: Indonesian gamelan music is nothing like western classical music.

The main difference between Spain and the UK is the language.

Sometimes, it’s good to simply state what the difference is. Notice the spelling of the noun form: difference. As well as saying the main difference, you can talk about small differences and minor differences. For example: One small difference between Spain and the UK is the time people eat dinner.

The population of Spain is smaller than the population of the UK.

One of the most common ways to talk about differences is to use comparative adjectives. This is quite complicated. We use three different comparative adjectives:

The first is for short single syllable adjectives:

The most simple form is:

Subject + is/are + adjective+er + than + object

Example: The UK is colder than Spain.

The second is for adjectives that end in -y. 

Instead of adding -er, we remove the y and add -ier.

Example: Liverpool fans are happier than Arsenal fans (at the moment).

The third is for adjectives with more than one syllable. For longer adjectives, we use the word more and then don’t change the adjective. 

Subject + is/are + more + adjective + than + object

Example: This city is more crowded than the countryside.

This is a very basic summary. For more information, listen to the Premier Skills English podcast episode about using comparatives.

Activity

Your turn

Imagine you were like Vicky and living in the UK. 

What do you think the biggest differences would be between living in your country and living in the UK?