Cambridge First Certificate (FCE) Sentence Transformations- Same or Different
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Cambridge B2 First Use of English Part Four answers and typical confusions review, including common language points like linking words, conditionals and quantifiers.
Lesson Plan Content:
Cambridge First sentence transformations the same or different
Without looking below for now, listen to your teacher read out two sentences and race to raise the “The same” card if you think they have (exactly) the same meaning or to raise the “Different” card if you think that there is some difference in their meanings.
Label the pairs of phrases below with S for the same or D for different.
- As a result of getting lost, they missed the meeting.
They missed the meeting because they got lost.
- Because they had a nice time, they easily reached an agreement.
They had a nice time because they easily reached an agreement.
- If I’d had time, I would have been able to wash my clothes.
If I had time, I would be able to wash my clothes.
- I didn’t hear the noise, so I didn’t catch the thief.
If I had heard the noise, I would have caught the thief.
- For a week after the storm, Tom was so scared that he wouldn’t go out.
For a week after the storm, Tom was too scared to go out.
- “Could you close the door, please?” asked Harry
Harry told me to close the door.
- My company let me have an extra-long holiday this year.
I was allowed to have an extra-long holiday this year.
- My father made me fix his car.
My father let me fix his car.
- The last time I got angry was when I heard about my daughter’s divorce.
I haven’t lost my temper since I heard about my daughter’s divorce.
- There is currently a lot of criticism of multinational companies.
Multinational companies are being criticised a lot at the moment.
- Although I’m feeling depressed, I have a party this evening.
Despite having a party this evening, I feel depressed.
- I regret changing jobs.
I wish I had changed jobs.
- The special set lunch includes half a bottle of wine.
Half a bottle of wine is included in the special set lunch.
- My sister started working in her current company five years ago.
My sister worked in that company for five years.
- Fiction doesn’t interest me.
I’m not interested in fiction.
- Tom isn’t nearly as intelligent as me.
I am slightly more intelligent than Tom.
Hint: There should be the same number of S pairs and D pairs above.
Check your answers as a class.
Without looking above, try to write a sentence which has (exactly) the same meaning as each sentence given below. You can write sentences with small differences in language and/ or big differences in language compared to the root sentence below, as long as they have exactly the same meanings. Many sentences not above are also possible.
Check with the answer key. Many other answers are possible, so please check if you wrote something different.
Test each other in pairs:
- Play the same holding up cards game
- Say a sentence and see if your partner can say something with exactly the same meaning but (slightly or very) different wording
- Choose one with a wrong answer, say the task and the wrong answer, and see if your partner can correct it
Work in groups to write similar pairs of sentences which have the same or (slightly) different meanings to test other groups with.
- As a result of getting lost, they missed the meeting.
BECAUSE
- Because they had a nice time, they easily reached an agreement.
SO
- If I’d had time, I would have been able to wash my clothes.
COULDN’T
- I didn’t hear the noise, so I didn’t catch the thief.
IF
- For a week after the storm, Tom was so scared that he wouldn’t go out.
TOO
- “Could you close the door, please?” asked Harry
ME
- My company let me have an extra-long holiday this year.
ALLOWED
- My father made me fix his car.
FORCED
- The last time I got angry was when I heard about my daughter’s divorce.
SINCE
- There is currently a lot of criticism of multinational companies.
CRITICISED
- Although I’m feeling depressed, I have a party this evening.
DESPITE
- I regret changing jobs.
WISH
- The special set lunch includes half a bottle of wine.
INCLUDED
- My sister started working in her current job five years ago.
WORKED
- Fiction doesn’t interest me.
INTERESTED
- Tom isn’t nearly as intelligent as me.
MORE
Cards to hold up
|
The same
|
Different |
|
The same
|
Different |
|
The same
|
Different |
|
The same
|
Different |
|
The same
|
Different |
|
The same
|
Different |
|
The same
|
Different |
Suggested answers
The answers in brackets and italics are wrong because they have different meanings.
Other sentences meaning the same thing are possible, so please check any different sentences that you wrote with your teacher.
- As a result of getting lost, they missed the meeting.
BECAUSE
They missed the meeting because they got lost.
- Because they had a nice time, they easily reached an agreement.
SO
They had a nice time, so they easily reached an agreement.
(NOT They had a nice time because they easily reached an agreement).
- If I’d had time, I would have been able to wash my clothes.
COULDN’T
I didn’t have time, so I couldn’t wash my clothes.
(NOT If I had time, I would be able to wash my clothes.)
- I didn’t hear the noise, so I didn’t catch the thief.
IF
If I had heard the noise, I would have caught the thief.
- For a week after the storm, Tom was so scared that he wouldn’t go out.
TOO
For a week after the storm, Tom was too scared to go out.
- “Could you close the door, please?” asked Harry
ME
Harry asked me to close the door.
(NOT Harry told me to close the door).
- My company let me have an extra-long holiday this year.
ALLOWED
I was allowed to have an extra-long holiday this year.
- My father made me fix his car.
FORCED
My father forced me to fix his car.
(NOT My father let me fix his car).
- The last time I got angry was when I heard about my daughter’s divorce.
SINCE
I haven’t lost my temper since I heard about my daughter’s divorce.
- There is currently a lot of criticism of multinational companies.
CRITICISED
Multinational companies are being criticised a lot at the moment.
- Although I’m feeling depressed, I have a party this evening.
DESPITE
Despite feeling depressed, I have a party this evening.
(NOT Despite having a party this evening, I feel depressed.)
- I regret changing jobs.
WISH
I wish I hadn’t changed jobs.
(NOT I wish I had changed jobs.)
- The special set lunch includes half a bottle of wine.
INCLUDED
Half a bottle of wine is included in the special set lunch.
- My sister started working in her current company five years ago.
WORKED
My sister has worked in her current company for five years.
(NOT My sister worked in that company for five years.)
- Fiction doesn’t interest me.
INTERESTED
I’m not interested in fiction.
- Tom isn’t nearly as intelligent as me.
MORE
I am much more intelligent than Tom.
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