Linking language · Comparison

Comparison connectors in English

These connectors tell the reader that the next case behaves like the one before it. Use comparison when two different situations follow the same pattern. It is not the same as addition: addition piles up points, comparison claims that a pattern repeats — which is a stronger and more falsifiable claim.

5 connectorseach with where it goes and how it is punctuated

2 worked examplesthe relationship, explained

2 common mistakeswith the repair

4 exercisesrelationship first, then the word

Start here · the long version

What comparison connectors really claim

Comparison connectors say that two things behave alike, which is a claim the reader will check against whatever they know about both.

Saying two things are alike is an argument, not a decoration

A comparison does real work in an essay: it lets a claim you have established about one case carry over to another, which is cheaper than arguing both. That is also why it is checkable. “Similarly, private schools face the same pressure” claims the pressure is genuinely the same, and a reader who knows one obvious difference now has a reason to doubt the paragraph rather than the sentence.

The family divides by how strong the likeness is. “Similarly” and “likewise” claim close parallel. “In the same way” claims the mechanism is shared, which is stronger. “Just as … so too” is the most formal and the most emphatic, and it needs both halves — the construction is incomplete without its second clause, which is where it usually breaks.

The commonest error is not grammatical. It is using a comparison connector to introduce something that is merely also true: “Similarly, the government should invest in schools” after a paragraph about hospitals claims a parallel that has not been shown. The word promises the reader a likeness, and the sentence has to deliver one.

The likeness is a claim

“Similarly” asserts the two cases behave alike. A reader who knows one difference will use it against you.

Degrees of similarity

“Likewise” = close parallel. “In the same way” = shared mechanism, which is a stronger claim.

Both halves

“Just as X, so too Y.” The construction needs its second clause, and dropping it leaves a fragment.

Not merely “also”

A second true statement is addition. Comparison needs the two cases to be alike in the relevant respect.

What it costs you to skip this

A comparison that does not hold gives a reader a concrete reason to distrust the paragraph, and it is the kind of doubt that spreads: if this parallel was asserted without checking, what else was? And a missing comparison is a missed economy — an argument you have already made for one case can often cover a second for the price of one connector.

Where it stops applying

Two things being both good, or both common, is not a similarity worth marking: the likeness has to be in the respect the paragraph is arguing about. And comparison cannot substitute for evidence — showing that two cases resemble each other does not establish anything about either one unless something has already been established about the first.

Examples · what these words actually do

A connector joins two sentences and names the relationship between them

That is the whole job. The words are not decoration and they are not interchangeable: each one makes a claim about how the second sentence relates to the first, and the reader will read it that way whether you meant it or not. Here is what this family claims.

First sentence

Nordic countries reached the top of international rankings by investing in teacher training.

Similarly

Second sentence

South Korea and Singapore did the same and got the same result.

Two different places, the same mechanism, the same outcome. That repetition is the argument: it suggests the result came from the policy and not from local luck. Addition would just list them; comparison claims the pattern.

When you need it
Use comparison when two different situations follow the same pattern. It is not the same as addition: addition piles up points, comparison claims that a pattern repeats — which is a stronger and more falsifiable claim.

The connectors

Where each one goes, and how it is punctuated

They do not all behave the same way. Two connectors can mean the same thing and still be written differently — that is where most linking errors come from.

Similarly

Formal

Opens the sentence with a comma. The two cases must be genuinely parallel, or the sentence overclaims.

Likewise

Formal

Opens the sentence. Interchangeable with “similarly”; slightly more compact.

In the same way

Neutral

Opens the sentence. Useful when the shared mechanism, not just the outcome, is the point.

By comparison

Formal

Opens the sentence. Signals a measured difference of degree, so it sits between comparison and contrast.

Just as … so

Formal

Splits across the sentence: “Just as cities need parks, so towns need public squares.” Formal and emphatic.

Watch one · then do three

See the relationship before you choose the word

The connector is not a decoration. It is a claim about how the two halves relate, and the reader will hold you to it.

Worked example · Similarly

Nordic countries reached the top of international rankings through sustained investment in teacher training.

Similarly, East Asian systems such as South Korea and Singapore have prioritised educator quality and curriculum design.

Why this one: Two different regions, the same mechanism. That parallel is the argument: it suggests the result comes from the policy, not from local circumstances.

Worked example · Just as … so

Same pattern, one sentence.

Just as … so, Just as a city needs green space, so a school day needs unstructured time.

Why this one: The construction states the pattern once and applies it twice. It is emphatic, so use it for the point you most want remembered.

What goes wrong

The two mistakes this family produces

Free tuition widens access. Similarly, it costs the state a great deal.

The two facts are not parallel — one is a benefit, the other a cost. This is a contrast wearing a comparison connector.

Repaired: Free tuition widens access. It does, however, cost the state a great deal.

Similarly to Finland, the country invested in teacher training.

“Similarly” does not take an object. The phrase that does is “like” or “as in”.

Repaired: As in Finland, the country invested in teacher training.

Now you try · with the scaffolding on

Build it one step at a time

Claim the likeness — and make sure the likeness is real before you claim it.

The material

You have argued that public hospitals struggle to retain specialist staff. You want to extend the point to schools.

Step 1Name what the two cases share

Not that both are public, or both are important. Name the mechanism that is the same.

Your version0 words · minimum 8

8 more words before you can compare. Writing it yourself first is the whole exercise.

Step 2Choose the connector by how strong the likeness is

Step 3Write the comparison

Exercises · step 1, the relationship

Before the word, the direction

Choosing the connector is the second decision. The first one is noticing where the next sentence is going.

Step 1 · the relationship

Which sentence comes next — and why that one?

The sentence you have: A city that removes cars from its centre recovers space for people on foot.

Three sentences could follow. Only one of them the next case behaves like the one before it. Choose it before you think about any connector.

Exercises · step 2, the word

Choose the connector the sentence actually needs

Now that you can see the direction, pick the word that announces it. The first wrong answer gives you a hint and a second attempt, and every wrong option explains what it would have signalled instead. Nothing here is scored.

The Nordic countries have consistently achieved high scores on global education rankings through sustained investment in teacher training. _______, East Asian nations such as South Korea and Singapore have reached the top of international tables by prioritising educator quality and curriculum design.

A city that removes cars from its centre recovers space for people on foot. _______, a school that protects unstructured time recovers attention for learning.

Rural clinics in the study reported a fifth of the region’s consultations. _______, the two urban hospitals handled more than half.

The other families