What is the difference between 'compare to' and 'compare with'

Author: Bob
Updated Date 01/09/2011 22:18:21
Number of views: 400

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In this post, you are going to study the difference between 'compare to' and 'compare with'.

Bob - 02/09/2011 01:13:43

Compare To is usually used to compare 2 unlike things:

• The old dog was compared to a monster. (dog and monster are not the same)

• Human brain is normally compared to a computer. (human brain and a computer are not the same)

Compare With is used to recognise the similarities or differences between things

• The police compared the forged signature with the original. (the forged signature and the original one both are signatures)

• His assignment paper was compared with his classmate's paper for plagiarism. (the 2 papers are both assignments)

Conclusion:

  Compare to Compare with
When 2 unlike things 2 like things
Purpose to stress the resemblance to recognise the difference or similarity