Is there a difference between comparing A to<\/em> B and comparing A with<\/em> B?<\/p>\n The answer is yes, and it is a difference worth maintaining; but these days, compare to<\/em> and compare with<\/em> are in danger of becoming interchangeable. This looks like yet another fight that the grammar patrol is about to lose.<\/p>\n When we compare something to<\/em> something else, we are placing two things\u2014sometimes very different things\u2014in the same category and commenting on connections we perceive. We are expressing an opinion or making an observation. Others might not have noticed these similarities; still others might disagree with them. Some examples: I\u2019d compare the view from your living room to a painting by Bierstadt<\/em>. Ruben compared Giorgio\u2019s spaghetti to dog food<\/em>. Note that these are subjective statements\u2014they are not verifiable.<\/p>\n When we compare something with<\/em> something else, we are not expressing opinions or making personal statements. We are placing two things side by side and noting empirical similarities and differences. Our purpose is to be fair and impartial. The accuracy or inaccuracy of our findings can be verified. For instance, if we flout the old clich\u00e9 and compare apples with<\/em> oranges, we find that neither fruit contains fat, cholesterol, or sodium; that oranges contain more than twice as much potassium as apples; that a cup of oranges contains twenty more calories than a cup of apples.<\/p>\n The act of comparing to<\/em>\u2014claiming that two distinct entities share a noteworthy similarity\u2014is something children do all the time. When a child says, \u201cMommy, that owl looks like Uncle Al!\u201d she is comparing her uncle\u2019s face to<\/em> a bird\u2019s. That is not exactly in-depth analysis. Comparing with<\/em> tends to be a more mature, responsible, and demanding act than comparing to<\/em>. Comparing with<\/em> requires objectivity\u2014and often necessitates research.<\/p>\n In the writer\u2019s guide Simple and Direct<\/em>, Jacques Barzun issues this caveat: \u201cAny writer can compare himself with<\/em> Shakespeare and discover how far he falls short; if he compares himself to<\/em> Shakespeare (i.e., puts himself on the same level), then he had better think again.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pop Quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n Choose the better options. Answers are below.<\/p>\n 1.<\/strong> 2.<\/strong> 3.<\/strong> 4.<\/strong> <\/p>\n Pop Quiz Answers<\/strong><\/p>\n 1<\/strong>. 2<\/strong>. 3<\/strong>. 4<\/strong>. Is there a difference between comparing A to B and comparing A with B? The answer is yes, and it is a difference worth maintaining; but these days, compare to and compare with are in danger of becoming interchangeable. This looks like yet another fight that the grammar patrol is about to lose. When we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-effective-writing","category-prepositions"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1989\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA) Corey compared Eva\u2019s running style with a gazelle\u2019s.
\nB) Corey compared Eva\u2019s running style to a gazelle\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\nA) The police compared the e <\/em>in Whitten\u2019s signature with the e <\/em>in the forged name on the contract.
\nB) The police compared the e <\/em>in Whitten\u2019s signature to the e <\/em>in the forged name on the contract.<\/p>\n
\nA) Compared with the amount of money the administration has proposed for defense, the cost of this program will be small.
\nB) Compared to the amount of money the administration has proposed for defense, the cost of this program will be small.<\/p>\n
\nA) She compared my singing with the bleating of a calf in a hail storm.
\nB) She compared my singing to the bleating of a calf in a hail storm.<\/p>\n
\nB) Corey compared Eva\u2019s running style to<\/em> a gazelle\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\nA) The police compared the e <\/em>in Whitten\u2019s signature with<\/em> the e <\/em>in the forged name on the contract.<\/p>\n
\nA) Compared with<\/em> the amount of money the administration has proposed for defense, the cost of this program will be small.<\/p>\n
\nB) She compared my singing to<\/em> the bleating of a calf in a hail storm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"