SAT® · Reading and Writing: Expression of Ideas
Similarity Transitions
A similarity connector such as likewise, similarly, or by the same token signals that two different subjects behave the same way. It only fits when the second sentence introduces a new subject that mirrors the first, not when it adds another fact about the same one.
The test always sets up two complete statements and asks which word belongs between them. Similarity connectors do one specific job: they tell you the sentence that follows describes a different subject doing the same kind of thing as the subject before it. Ravens cache food for winter; squirrels bury nuts for the same reason. Two species, one shared behavior. That shared behavior is the whole test. If the second sentence just keeps talking about ravens, similarity has nothing to attach to, because there's no second subject to run alongside the first.
The mechanism is always the same: find the subject of sentence one, find the subject of sentence two, and ask whether they're different nouns performing a matching action or showing a matching trait. If yes, the link is similarity, and likewise, similarly, in the same way, and by the same token all work, since they only differ in formality, not meaning. If the second sentence instead adds a new fact about the original subject, that's addition, calling for in addition or furthermore instead. Mixing these up is the single error this question type is built to catch.
This sits right next to addition and contrast connectors in the same question block, because all three compete for the same blank and the only way to choose correctly is to check what changed between the two sentences: same subject with a new detail, same subject with an opposing detail, or a new subject with matching behavior.
Key terms
- Similarity connector
- A linking word such as likewise or similarly that shows two different subjects share the same behavior or trait.
- Parallel statement
- A second sentence built on the same pattern as the first but about a new subject.
- Addition connector
- A word like furthermore or in addition that adds a new fact about the same subject already being discussed.
- Subject shift
- The change from one noun performing an action to a different noun performing a matching action, the signal to use a similarity word.
Watch it explained
- How it worksHow do similarly, likewise and by comparison link two parallel statements about different subjects?
- Worked exampleFind the connector between 'Ravens cache food for winter' and 'Squirrels bury nuts all through autumn'.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't 'similarly' right when a second sentence describes the very same subject again?
Check yourself
End of topic.