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Grab The RSSCompared “to” or Compared “with”?
A reader writing a report emailed me to ask:
Should I write “compared to previous years” or “compared with previous years” or doesn’t it matter?
Here is what three popular handbooks have to say on the matter.
Strunk and White (The Elements of Style)
To compare to is to point out or imply resemblances between objects regarded as essentially of a different order;
to compare with is mainly to point out differences between objects regarded as essentially of the same order.
Thus, life has been compared to a pilgrimage, to a drama, to a battle; Congress may be compared with the British Parliament. Paris has been compared to ancient Athens; it may be compared with modern London.
AP Stylebook
Use compared to when the intent is to assert, without the need for elaboration, that two or more items are similar: She compared her work for women’s rights to Susan B Anthony’s campaign for women’s suffrage.
Use compared with when juxtaposing two or more items to illustrate similarities and/or differences: His time was 2:11:10 compared with 2:14 for his closest competitor.
Penguin Writer’s Manual
Both prepositions, to and with, can be used following compare. Neither is more correct than the other, but a slight distinction can be made in meaning.
To has traditionally been preferred when the similarity between two things is the point of the comparison and compare means ‘liken’: I hesitate to compare my own works to those of someone like Dickens.
With, on the other hand, suggests that the differences between two things are as important as, if not more important than, the similarities: We compared the facilities available to most city-dwellers with those available to people living in the country; to compare like with like.
When compare is used intransitively it should be followed by with: Our output simply cannot compare with theirs.
Bottomline: If the differences are important, say compared with.
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I am so glad I found you through tw. One benefit of me getting on to begin with is coming across sites such as this. I hadn’t really anticipated some of the resources being a result.
Jerry L.
P.S. I know I probably really need the help. CALTM (chuckle a little to myself)
What an excellent tip. Thank you.
So… “Compare with” = contrast; What are the circumstances by which one would use contrast as the verb instead?
Perhaps in a future entry you can take on the Brits who say ‘different to’ instead of the American ‘different from’.
Good luck with that! ;^ )
To remind yourself each time, just think of what the Bard himself wrote…..”I compare thee ‘to’ a summer’s day (easy!).
Dom,
One reason that many members of the younger generation do not know which particle to use with certain words is that they’ve not been required to study traditional literature.
thank you! one relief in things is clarity, and you have just presented me some with your site. good show!
Would you please tell me what grammatical error does the following sentence have?
Compared with 1990, the number of teaching staff has increased.
And also, what is the difference betwen the usage of “compared with” and “comparing with” ?
The sentence ‘Compared with 1990, the number of teaching staff has increased’ sounds odd, as if the number of teaching staff is being compared with the year 1990. It’s also slightly ambiguous, because it could be interpreted as stating that in 1990 the number of teaching staff did not increase, in contrast with the present year.
A better way to express the meaning, in my opinion, is
Since 1990, the number of teaching staff has increased.
“Comparing with” is, to my knowledge, uncommon, and refers to an implicit object that is being compared, as in “Comparing with states of nineteenth-century Europe, one sees many democratic innovations in modern Central America.”
HElp me please!!! How do I explain the use of compared to??? That is, why do we use comparED? In my study, the rsults of sample A will be comparED to sample B.. Why compared?? it isn’t the past
Lynne,
In your example, “compared” is the past participle form of the verb being used to create a construction in passive voice. Compare:
The boss will compare sample A to sample B.
Sample A will be compared to sample B.
Hi. When should we use ‘un’ and ‘non’?
Example: ‘undyed samples’ vs ‘nondyed samples’.
Is it a matter of usage or are there specific rules governing the use of the two?
Soraya,
The idiomatic choice here is “undyed.” You may want to read my post at http://bottomlineenglish.com/when-to-use-the-negative-prefixes-un-and-non
Good discussion. Thanks to all..
Pls advise. Should I use “compared with” or “compared to”?
“Overall, there was a drop by 20% in the number of SIRs raised as compared with August 2011″