Compared to vs. compared with

What does compared to mean?

Compared to is when something is likened to something else, or to highlight the similarities between things. Compared to is often used when the things being compared are different in nature.

For example:

·      If you compare my dog to my goldfish, you’ll see they both love food.

What does compared with mean?

Compared with is used to identify the similarities and differences between objects. This is often used for things that are similar in nature, such as two houses.

For example:

·      This house is bigger compared with the one next to it.

What’s the difference between compared to and compared with?

Compared to is used to highlight mostly similarities, while compared with is used to identify similarities and differences. Compared to is used when the compared things are different in nature while compared with is used for things similar in nature.

This idea of differences can be highly subjective so you’ll find a lot of overlap with both words!

For example:

·      I compared this study with another study that compared polar bears to pigeons.