differ
part of speech
verb (differ, differs, differed, differing)
meaning for a pupil
1) To differ means to be not the same as something else. tree →
2) To differ means to have a different opinion, to disagree: «we differ on which film is best». tree →
sense in the lessons
tells how much two amounts are apart: «differ by 5»; in science: compare how plants or animals differ; in maths: the difference is how much two numbers differ; in everyday life: people's tastes differ, and that is fine; phrases: «differ from», «differ by», «agree to differ»
examples
- The two numbers differ by 5. tree →
- Their heights differ by 12 cm. tree →
- How much do the prices differ? tree →
- The two answers differ. tree →
- How does a frog differ from a toad? tree →
- Twins can differ in many ways. tree →
- We agreed to differ about the best football team. tree →
- The weather can differ a lot from one day to the next. tree →
- We differ from you in one point only. tree →
note
Points to a difference: bigger − smaller. Trap: «differ by 5» does not say which is bigger; read the other clues. Noun: difference; adjective: different. Past: differed (single r before -ed: differed, differing).
In the corpora
- Councils have recycling rules about which bin takes plastic, paper, glass or food, and the rules differ from place to place.
- Critics and review sites give scores, but those are opinions, and your own taste may differ.
- Spelling also differs by country: British «travelled», American «traveled»; both are right at home.
- Families differ: some children have two mums or two dads, and that is normal.
- Laws and advice about leaving children home alone differ from place to place.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «differ» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.