Compared with versus compared to

1 2 3

Share on Facebook

Sunflower

#71273 Mon, 31 Jan 05 06:08 PM

Hello everybody,

Could anyone help with a doubt? Which one is the correct form: COMPARED WITH or COMPARED TO?

EX: Group 1 was compared ___ Group 2

I appreciate any help!

Thanks!

Sunflower

Joined on Mon, Nov 29 2004

New Member (33)

Mike in Japan

#71350 Tue, 01 Feb 05 12:53 AM

Hi Sunflower,

Both are in very common use.
I would hazard a guess that most users just use the one that is most common in their locality.

Mike in Japan

Joined on Tue, Aug 19 2003

Hazzard County, Japan

Rank NA (4,349)

I do like to be beside the seaside

Mike in Japan

#71354 Tue, 01 Feb 05 01:00 AM

I was able to find this explanation, but I do not believe most users would feel there was any difference - only that one is more familiar to them than the other.

---------------------------------------------------------
Compare with or Compare to?

To identify either the similarities or the differences between two things, use "compare to." To identify both the similarities and the differences, use "compare with." In comparing with something, one finds or discusses both things that are alike and things that are different.
-J. Cheney [link]

---------------------------------------------------------

Mike in Japan

Mister Micawber

#71445 Tue, 01 Feb 05 07:35 AM

For those who enjoy reading him, Fowler (Modern English Usage) concurs, Mike, and offers a brief discussion.

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (22,347)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Mike in Japan

#71449 Tue, 01 Feb 05 08:10 AM

I don't have the Fowler, but John Eastwood's 'Oxford Guide to English Grammar' makes no differentiation, at least for the example sentence given.

Cheers

Mike in Japan

Mike in Japan

#71452 Tue, 01 Feb 05 08:32 AM

On inspection, my Oxford dictionary does show a difference when used in ways other than our original example.

'Compare to' can also mean 'liken', declare to be similar; 'he compared (likened) the human body to a machine'

'Compare with' can also mean be worthy of comparison; 'he cannot compare with Patrick White as a novelist'. (he is not worthy of being compared to Patrick White ...)

Mike

Mike in Japan

Sunflower

#71493 Tue, 01 Feb 05 12:21 PM

Hi Mike,

Thank you for your attention! I really appreciated your help!
Cheers

Sunflower

paco2004

#71496 Tue, 01 Feb 05 12:46 PM

Hello

Compare to/with

My understanding is as follows:

(1) Z compares X to Y (positive/metaphoric) :You can compare Earth to a ship.
(2) Z compares X with Y (neutral/negative) :Compare Earth with Mars.
(3) X compares with Y --> X competes with Y :No country can compare with China in the population size.

Am I right?

paco2004

Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004

Senior Member (4,095)

In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English.

Negatives

komountain

#71569 Tue, 01 Feb 05 07:43 PM

Agreed, paco.

Nicely delineated in principle, though I don't understand the "negative" part.

In reality, however, I feel the distinction between (1) and (2) has been quite blurry.
My empirical intuition is that [compare ...to...] is freewheeling, (i.e., it can be used either way), while [compare ... with...] strictly sticks to its original definition (i.e., not used as a synonym of 'liken').

I'd be glad to be corrected if I'm wrong.

komountain

Joined on Mon, Nov 8 2004

Full Member (269)

Negatives, Synonyms

1 2 3