Hey there- it's Wendy from Worldwide Speak,
and I'm back today to talk to you more about
transition words.
And specifically I'm going to go over
some transition words that we use to compare
and contrast.
So when you're beginning to write in English
and you need to write a compare contrast paragraph
or essay, this is the video you need to watch
so you can get the use of these transitions
correct.
You ready? Let's learn.
All right, I said I was going to talk
about transition words that we use to compare
and contrast. If you can see
the graphic here with the two circles
that have words on the outside and then
words on the inside where the circles overlap,
it's called a Venn diagram.
We use that diagram
to compare things, and here
the two things being compared are
oranges and apples.
The things on the outside, such as
thin peel and thick peel,
are the things that are different.
And then the things that the two items have in common,
the two things that oranges and apples have
in common, are in the middle where they
overlap, such as they both grow on trees, and
they're both fruit.
Now, the transition words we'll use
um to show similarity
the places-
the place where the two items overlap
where they have something in common.
And then we'll use
transition words to show contrast.
And those are the things that
are different between the two things.
And these transition words are really important
because they signal to the reader - "oh look!
This writer is going to compare
something to something else.
Or "this writer is going to contrast two things."
Alright when we compare
we show how two or more things are similar
or are alike or have some qualities
that are the same, and the transition
words that we use there, there are a bunch of
transition words, but they're going to give you two
transition words that I'd like you to focus on and to use
those and to internalize
those transition words so you really grasp the concept.
The first one is the word "similarly,"
and the second one is the word "like."
Let's take a look at an example
showing similarities between Chicago
and Houston, and we'll do an example
using the transition word "similarly."
So here is what it would look like in real life
writing: "Chicago has a river running through the city.
Similarly there are bayous that meander back and forth
throughout Houston's downtown."
Now the first thing I talked about was
Chicago. The second thing I talked about was
Houston, and I showed that they were alike
by using that transition word "similarly."
Note there is a comma
directly after the transition word "similarly,"
so when you're writing it
"similarly" comma it's really
important to remember the comma or else
it can be a little confusing for your reader when
they're going through your paper.
Also note: when we are comparing two things, we use
the transition word to begin the sentence of the second
thing that we're comparing,
not the first thing. Okay, sowe did
an example showing a similarity
between Chicago and Houston using the transition
word "similarly." Now what would it look like if
we use the transition word "like?"
Well what's interesting about using
the word "like" is that "like"needs a
noun or a noun phrase
after it, and then the comma comes after the noun or noun phrase.
Let me show you what this looks like with
an example of real life writing.
So I would say there are so many great
restaurants that offer outdoor seating in the Windy City.
Like the dining options in Chicago - comma -
many restaurants in Houston have
patios for those who enjoy eating outside.
Let's talk about this in more detail.
So first of all what's the Windy City?
The Windy City is a nickname or another name for
Chicago. I wanted to
vary my writing a little bit so it wasn't-
I wasn't saying Chicago all of the time.
That could be a little
boring or repetitive.
So uh the first thing I talk about with
Chicago is that it's really great because there are many
restaurants with
outdoor seating. Now I need to show my reader
that Houston also has outside dining,
So if you'll notice I begin the
um talking about the second thing which is
Houston with the word "like."
now what am I comparing? I'm comparing
uh restaurants, right? So I need to mention
restaurants again, and this is where the
noun phrase comes in.
Like the dining options in Chicago,
I used the words "dining options" instead
of "restaurants" again to vary my writing to make it more
interesting. So I mention "like the dining options in
Chicago" - comma -
"many restaurants in Houston have
patios for those who enjoy eating outside."
So then after I use "like" and the noun phrase that talks
about Chicago and the thing I'm comparing,
then I begin talking about the second
thing. Like I just said, it's important to note
that when you use "like" plus a noun or noun phras,
the noun phrase refers back to the thing you just
mentioned. You're going to talk about Chicago and
then you're going to use the word "like,"
talk about what you were comparing in
Chicago, put a comma, and then you begin talking
about the second thing that you're comparing.
Alright, so I showed you the two transitional words
with comparing: "similarly" and "like" plus a noun or noun
phrase and I gave you examples for those.
Now let's do the same thing with
contrast. When we contrast we show how
two or more things are dissimilar or
not alike or have some qualities that
are different, what are the transition words
that I'd like you to learn today? I'd like you to learn the
transition words "in contrast"
followed directly by a comma
and "unlike." Let's take a look at an example.
We're still talking about Chicago and Houston, but
now we're going to shift our focus, and we're going to
contrast the two.
Let's begin showing this contrast by using the transition
word "in contrast" directly followed by the comma.
What would this look like in your
writing? Here's an example:
The weather in Chicago
varies quite a bit with four distinct seasons.
In contrast, it feels warm most of the time
in H-town with very little variation in temperature
and no real distinct seasons.
As you can see, here in the first part
I talked about Chicago, and then
I signal to the reader that I'm going to
contrast two things because I use the transition word
"in contrast" comma.
Remember, you really need to have that
comma right after the words in contrast in order for it to
be correct. And then I
go on to show how the weather is different in Houston
than it is in Chicago. And instead of repeating "Houston"
again (I like
variation in my writing) I used Houston's nickname,
which is H-town. Alright, so we just did an
example with "in contrast," and now let's do an example
with "unlike." And like the transition word "like,"
this also takes a noun or a noun
phrase followed by a comma.
Let's see what this looks like in real
life writing. So we're going to start with Chicago
again, and then we're going to show another difference
between Chicago and Houston.
The beaches along the
lakefront make Chicago seem like it's an oceanside
city because Lake Michigan is so expansive.
Unlike the landscape of Chicago,
Houston is landlocked and has no beaches
nor does it sit on the shores of an enormous lake.
Let's look more closely at at this example.
We begin with Chicago,
and what are we talking about?
We're talking about the
scenery, the environment, the landscape.
Chicago has a beautiful
coast along Lake Michigan, and
I want to show how Houston doesn't look
like that at all so I talk about it first in
Chicago, and then I use that transition word
"unlike" followed by the noun phrase which
is the thing that I'm contrasting between the two,
which is the scenery
or the "landscape" is the word I used here.
So I say: "Unlike the landscape
in Chicago," (remember I refer back to the thing I was
just talking about)
comma. Now i start talking about Houston and show
how it's different.
"Houston is landlocked."
There's no ocean or beach or lake.
There's no body of water large body of water around it
or next to it, and it's it doesn't have a shoreline.
It has the bayous that go through it, but it doesn't
have beaches or a shoreline
so you can see here that we talk about Chicago.
We use the transition word "unlike,"
and then we use the noun phrase which
includes the specific thing that I'm contrasting
about Chicago and Houston, and I refer back to what I
just talked about, which was Chicago.
I put the comma, and then I start talking
about the other place or the other thing
that I'm contrasting, which in this example
is Houston. So there you have it. I gave you
two transition words or phrases to use
to show similarities and
those are "similarly" and
"like" plus a noun phrase. Remember,
after the word "similarly," there is a comma
directly after the word.
With the transition word "like," there needs to
be a noun or a noun phrase, and after that
we put the comma. And then for differences
we have "in contrast" - comma
and "unlike" plus a noun phrase
or noun - comma.
Now this would be a good time to
pause the video, write down these transition words,
and then you can start using them in
your writing so that your writing is
much more clear and much more effective.
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