✅  Although same and similar indicate a likeness between two or more things, they are not equivalent!

✅  Same means identical (She always did the exact same thing I did).

✅  Similar, though, is better when you want to describe two things as having certain but not all qualities in common (Their writing styles were very similar, but his was more descriptive than hers).

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✅ Cause and motive refer to the reason for an action (Her graduation was a cause for celebration; Profit was their only motive).

✅ Motive is the perfect word when you want to highlight the desire or incentive which moves a person to act and produce specific results (His motives for meeting with school administrators were purely political).

✅ Motive (commonly found with the adjectives ulterior and selfish) is often more sinister than cause, and is used in legal proceedings to mean the motivation for committing a crime.

Check out more synonyms for motive!

✅ Although both gift and bonus are given voluntarily, bonus is more limited, meaning something given in addition to what is due (The gift shop gave customers a box of chocolates as a bonus with purchases).

✅ Primarily, bonus refers to money, either given to employees in recognition of hard work (an annual bonus) or given to entice someone to become an employee (a signing bonus).

✅ While a bonus is most often given to an individual, a gift can be given to a single person, a group, or an institution (The charity received several large gifts this season).

Here's a gift—more synonyms for bonus!