Finding the Right Word to Use when Speaking 4

How to compare items
Comparative adjectives
Unknown vocabulary
Further practice

Visual Grouping exercise

When you can’t remember words, especially nouns, it is common to compare unknown items to known items. You might compare them by appearance, purpose, location, size, weight etc.

For example:
“It’s used for writing and drawing but it’s bigger than a pen or pencil. “
“Oh! Do you mean a crayon?”
“No, it’s more like a pen.”
“Is it a marker? A marker pen?”
“It might be. Yes, I think it is.”

Images reprinted with permission from www.clikr.com

ANSWERS:

Sea Animals	Insects	Tools


Fasteners	Sea Birds	Kitchen Utensils

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Speaking / Listening – matching exercise

Once we have a general heading and another example under that heading it becomes easier to explain the words we cannot remember or do not know.

To show that things have common features or are alike in some way we can use words such as like and similar to.

To show that although there are similarities there are differences too we can use words like but.

To compare qualities we can use comparative adjectives such as bigger, heavier, more useful, and more beautiful.

For example to describe a dolphin (the sea animal paired with a shark) we could say:

“It’s a sea animal that is like a shark but much friendlier and cuter.”

Task

Instructions

Practice describing the images from the previous task by using the headings given for each pair and one image from each of the pairs as a starting point. Record your own descriptions then listen and compare.

Follow this example:
“It’s a sea animal that is like a shark but much friendlier and cuter.”

Suggested Answers:

It’s an insect like a bee, but it’s red with black spots.
It’s a tool similar to a paintbrush, but it’s made of a tube with a handle.
It’s a fastener like a screw, but you knock it into the wood rather than turning it like a screw.
It’s a sea bird similar in colour to a penguin, but it can fly.
It’s a kitchen utensil like a fork, but it’s used while cooking rather than eating.

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Speaking – describing images using target language

There are a number of ways to describe difficult words that you are unsure of. Here is an opportunity to use the language from previous exercises to help your listener to understand what the missing words are.

Task 1

Exercise 1

Instructions

Choose items that you don’t know the names of from the following images. To help, think of the general headings for them as well as other items that are similar and would fit under these headings.

1	2	3
4	5	6
7	8	9

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

1. A Wagon	2. A Boomerang	3. A Dart
4. A Rubik’s Cube	5. A Robot	6. A Piece Of A Jigsaw Puzzle
7. A Jack-In-The-Box	8. A Kite	9. A Spinning Top

Suggested Answers:

It’s a vehicle for children like a car but with an open top. (A Wagon)
It’s a something that you throw, that looks like a letter V in shape. (A Boomerang)
It’s part of a game, like a spear but much smaller. (A Dart)
It’s a game, like a box but with moving, colourful sides. (A Rubik’s Cube)
It’s a machine that looks like a person and can speak. (A Robot)
It’s a part of a game that you put together to make a big picture. (A Piece Of A Jigsaw Puzzle)
It’s a toy box with a doll or puppet that jumps out. (A Jack-In-The-Box)
It’s like an aeroplane on a string that is made of paper. (A Kite)
It’s a small toy that goes round and round on the table or floor. (A Spinning Top)

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Speaking – see task instructions below

Task 1
Follow-up Task

Exercise 1

Instructions

First, watch this comedy sketch of a customer shopping in a store.

Video 1 - The Two Ronnies - Four Candles

You are going shopping for an English speaking friend to the same kind of shop as in the video. Your friend wrote the shopping list and talked to you about the items on the list before you went to the shop. When you get to the counter and the shopkeeper asks what you want, you find that you have lost the shopping list. You don’t want to disappoint your friend so you describe the items to the shopkeeper from the following images you have in your head:

Example 1: I’d like a machine that is used in the kitchen for making soup from vegetables.

1	2	3
4	5	6
7	8	9

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

1. A Food Blender	2. A Can of Soup	3. A Toaster
4. A Saw	5. A Frying Pan	6. A Waffle Maker
7. A Mask and Snorkel	8. A Child’s Tricycle	9. A Badminton Raquet

Suggested Answers:

I’d like a machine that you use to mix and cut food. The top part of it is like a jug.
I’m looking for a round container made of metal that has soup inside.
Have you got a machine that makes bread brown and hot?
I need a tool that’s used for cutting wood.
I’d like a kitchen item that is used for cooking. It’s like a wok but not as deep.
I’m looking for a metal container that is used for cooking and shaping food similar to cake.
I need two items that help me to see and breathe when I go swimming in the sea.
I’m looking for a three-wheeled cycle for kids.
Have you got the sports item that is used for hitting something over a high net?

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Follow-up Task

Instructions

Collect your own pictures and exchange them with a partner. Take it in turns to be the shopkeeper and customer. Describe the pictures until your partner knows which item you mean.