Prestigious Minds Blog

Sentences and phrases which imply a comparison to someone or something but say nothing about the person or object on which the comparison is based, or which do not specify the basis of comparison.  Example words:  even, very, too, more, less, greater, lesser, better, enough, worse, bigger, brighter, smarter… etc. (than what? how?)

 

1. “The future is brighter with our little blue gizmo.”

a. “Brighter than what?  For whom?  In what way?”

 

2. “My approach is better.”

a. “Better than what?  In what way?”

 

3. “If your tastes were better, people would like you more.”

a. “Better than what?  More than what?”

 

4. “Even you can understand what I’m about to tell you.”

a. “Even I?  Compared to whom?”

 

5. “Our relationship is worse.”

a. “Worse than what?”

 

6. “I’m too short.”

a. “Compared to whom?  By whose standards?”

 

7. “Younger people have more energy.”

a. “Younger than whom?  More energy than whom?”

 

8. “Doctors know more than patients.”

a. “Doctors know more than patients.”

 

9. “He has a short attention span.”

a. “Short compared to what?”

 

10. “Do you think you could talk less and think more?”

a. “Talk less than what?  And think more than what?”

 

11. “I’m not accomplishing enough for someone my age.”

a. “Enough compared to what?  Compared to whom?”

Cause & Effect

 

The implication or direct claim that one thing causes, or is caused by, another when there is no well-formed logical support or demonstrable, sensory-based evidence to support a causal connection.  Frequent words:  makes, because, if…then, as…then, then, since, so, whenever this…that

 

1. “Because it’s a rainy day, I feel low.”

a. “So you’ve never felt good on a rainy day, ever?”

 

2. “Look what you made me do.”

a. “How exactly did I make you do that?”

 

3. “It’s a full moon, so I have a headache.”

a. “So headaches are caused by the moon?”

 

4. “Whenever you come along, our team loses.”

a. “So our team always wins when I am absent?”

 

5. “She couldn’t succeed because, when she was a child, her parents were abusive.”

a. “Some children with abusive parents succeed very well.”

 

6. “If you wash your car, Rachel will like you.”

a. “Will she like anyone who washes my car?”

 

7. “Smoking causes cancer.”

a. “So everyone who smokes gets cancer?”

 

8. “When a fly gets in the house, it makes me cry.”

a. “How, specifically, does it do that?”

 

9. “It’s your own fault she left you because you didn’t like her music.”

a. “So, no one leaves anyone who likes their music?”

 

10. “Since public restrooms are not private, I can’t ‘go’ in them.”

a. “So, since water is a public utility, you can’t ‘go’ in a toilet?”

 

11. “When you come to the game our team always loses.”

a. “Has it ever lost when I wasn’t there?”

 

12. “I can’t learn because my 5th grade teacher told me I was stupid.”

a. “So if you had a different teacher in 5th grade you could learn now?”