Compare with or compare to?

使用compare with 还是compare to呢？

In general terms, either preposition is correct, but the choice depends partly on meaning and partly on grammar. In addition, American English generally prefers to when there is a choice, whereas in British English the two different constructions are more evenly spread.

通常情况下，to和with都是正确的，但是究竟使用哪个介词要根据含义和语法来决定。此外，当必须在to和with中做出选择时，美式英语中常用to，但在英式英语中这两种不同的结构均可使用。

Let’s look first at the meaning of each phrase. Compare to can be defined broadly as ‘to estimate the similarity or difference between things’. For example:

让我们来看一下每一个短语的意义。Compare to可以广义地定义为“估计事物之间的相似性或者是差异”。例如：

Individual schools compared their facilities with those of others in the area.

私立学校将其设施与该地区其他学校的设施进行比较。

It is difficult to compare our results to studies conducted in the United States.

很难将我们的研究成果与在美国进行的研究成果相比较。

In this meaning, either preposition can be used.

在这种意义上，使用哪个介词都可以。

However, when compare is used to say that one thing resembles another, or to make an analogy between two different things, to is obligatory:

然而，当compare被用来表示一件事物与另一件事相似，或者在两件不同事情之间进行类比时，必须使用to:

Her novel was compared to the work of Daniel Defoe.

她的小说被比作丹尼尔·笛福的作品。

He compared children to young trees, both still growing and able to be shaped.

他把儿童比作年轻的树，它们都还在成长，而且可以被塑造成型。

A Shakespearean example

一个莎士比亚的例子

One of the most famous lines in English poetry, from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, uses compare to in this way:

这是莎士比亚十四行诗的第18段，英语诗歌中最著名的一句话，在这句诗里compare to是这样使用的。

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

我能否将你比作夏日中的一天？

Shakespeare is likening the addressee to a summer’s day, even though in the end he shows his beloved to be lovelier than such a day.

莎士比亚把收信人比作一个夏日，即使最后他说明他的爱人比夏日中这样的一天还要可爱。

Intransitive uses

不及物动词的使用

British English prefers with when compare is used intransitively, because similarities are being evaluated:

当compare被用作不及物动词时，由于在估计相似之处，英式英语中常常使用with：

His achievements do not compare with those of A. J. Ayer.

他的成就无法跟A.J.耶尔的成就相比。

No other English painter can compare with Sutherland in the subtlety of his vision.

就眼界的敏锐性而言，没有哪一位画家能够和萨瑟兰相比。

In American English, however, compare to is possible and slightly more frequent:

然而，在美式英语中，compare to 更加常用。

None of those birds compare to L.A. pigeons.

这些鸟都比不上洛杉矶的鸽子。

No, today’s calamities don't compare to the Great Depression or even to the agricultural troubles of the 1980s.

不，今天的灾难不能比作大萧条，甚至也不能比作二十世纪八十年代的农业问题。

Compared to...

Compared to...

When the past participle compared introduces a subordinate clause or phrase, the preposition is either to or with, although here usage is moving in favour of to:

当过去分词compared 引导一个从句或者是短语时，使用介词to 或者是with都可以，虽然这里的用法偏向于使用to:

This was a modest sum compared to what other people spent.

和其他人的花费相比，这是一笔相对较小的数额。

Compared to physics and astronomy, cosmology is a young science.

与物理学和天文学相比，宇宙学这一学科还较为年轻。

However, compared with the USA and Japan, Europe contains a group of separate nation states.

然而，与美国和日本相比，欧洲有一些独立的国家。

Comparable is used with to or with in line with the previous discussion, with a marked preference in current usage for to:

Comparable后使用to 还是with取决于之前的讨论，现在的用法偏向使用to:

We find ourselves in a situation comparable to mediaeval times.

我们发现自己处于与中世纪相当的处境。

Comparison as the noun equivalent of compare can be followed by either with or to:

Comparison作为compare的名词后既可以接with也可以接to:

Poussin’s approach bears closest comparison to Michelangelo’s.

普珊的方法和米开朗基罗的方法是最接近的。

Prices for real estate in Tbilisi cannot stand comparison with Western capitals or indeed Moscow.

第比利斯的房地产价格无法与西方资本主义国家或者是莫斯科的房价相比。

The phrase in comparison to is more often used than in comparison with, but by comparison with is more frequent than by comparison to:

In comparison to比in comparison with更加常用，但是by comparison with却比by comparison to更加常用：

The film is utterly benign in comparison to some of the more violent movies of today.

与现在比较暴力的电影相比，这部电影绝对是温和的。

The standard is pitiable in comparison with other countries.

与其他国家的标准相比，这个标准引人怜悯。

By comparison with North Sea oil production, it is a drop in the ocean.

与北海的石油产量相比，这只是沧海一粟。

Essentially, both with and to are correct prepositions to use after compare, comparable, or comparison, although it may be worth checking the regional and grammatical context of the sentence when making your choice.

本质上来说，虽然compare，comparable或者是comparison后使用to或者是with都是正确的，但是当做出选择用哪个介词时，还是有必要检查语境。