Unlike means “different from” or “in contrast to”. After unlike, you name who or what you are comparing with: a person, a place or a thing. It highlights a difference and works in conversation, in essays and in describing graphs: Unlike car sales, bike sales grew.
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Unlike + noun/pronoun, + clause; clause, unlike + noun; it's unlike + person + to + verb
- Unlike my old laptop, the new one runs quietly and has a battery that lasts all day.
- Coffee sales rose steadily in 2023, unlike tea sales, which fell by ten per cent.
- It's unlike Maria to miss a meeting, so I called to check she was OK.
What changed
First versionUnlike my sister loves big cities, I prefer quiet villages.
RevisionWhereas my sister loves big cities, I prefer quiet villages.
Unlike and whereas both show a difference, so they get mixed up. But unlike is followed only by a noun or a pronoun; it can't introduce a whole clause with a verb. To compare two actions you need whereas, and that is what was used. Another way to fix the sentence is to remove the verb: Unlike my sister, I prefer quiet villages.
Unlike has a second meaning: “not typical of someone”. It's unlike Tom to forget a birthday means that Tom doesn't usually forget birthdays, so this is strange. In this meaning, unlike comes after it's, and the person is followed by to and a verb.
Your turn
___ most of my classmates, I didn't find the grammar test difficult.
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Unlike — After the gap there is only most of my classmates, the people the speaker compares themselves with, and there is no verb with them. Before words like these you need Unlike. Whereas introduces a whole clause: Whereas most of my classmates struggled, I found it easy.
Compare yourself with a family member or a friend. Start the sentence with Unlike, name this person and one habit that makes you different from them.
Unlike my brother, I go for a run every morning before work.
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