What's The Difference Between COMPARE TO and COMPARE WITH?
Compare To vs Compare With
'Compare To' should be used when we point out only the likenesses or similarities between two apparently dissimilar persons or things. For example, Tom compared his girlfriend to the moon.
On the other hand, 'Compare With' should be used when we try to find out or point out similarities and/or differences between two entities of the same general class. For example, I compared myself with my friend John.
"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" [Here, 'thee' means 'you' ( = Shakespeare's friend)]
In the above example, Shakespeare compares his friend to a summer's day. It means that his friend is as beautiful as a summer's day. [Here, Shakespeare just finds the similarity between His friend and a summer's day)]
1) Don't compare your lifestyle with mine. [There may be some similarities and some dissimilarities between your lifestyle and my lifestyle.]
2) Don't compare yourself with others.
3) Hey my dear Lucy, shall I compare you to the moon?
4) Tom compared his friend Jack to a parrot. [Here Tom wants to point out only the likeness or similarity between his friend Jack and a parrot.]
5) George compared himself with his father. [George points out some similarities and/or differences between him and his father.]
6) Life can be compared to a battle and This earth can be compared to a battlefield.
7) New York City may be compared with London City.
8) Indian democratic system may be compared with the American democratic system.
* The main difference between Compare To and Compare With is that 'Compare to' is used only when the similarity or likeness between two things is being observed or pointed out, and 'Compare with' is used when the similarities and/or differences between two or more objects are being examined by placing them side by side.
The intent of using 'Compare to' is to observe or point out only the similarities between two entities. [Here the similarity between two things is the main point of comparison.]
And the intent of using 'Compare with' is to observe and examine both similarities and differences or only the differences. [Here the differences between two things are more important than the similarities.]
1) You should not compare yourselves with others. [There may be many similarities and dissimilarities between you and other people.]
2) Tom compared his hairstyle to mine. [Here Tom's hairstyle is similar to mine (mine = my hairstyle).]
* Native English speakers generally don't follow this rule, they use them interchangeably. Compare to is more common in American English and Compare with is more common in British English.
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