ENGLISH
REFERENCE

compared with sth

prep. phr..
B1 Intermediate Oxford

prep. phr.. you use this when you look at two or more things to see how they are different.

prep. phr.. a prepositional construction used to introduce a standard of comparison or to highlight differences between two entities.


SIMPLE

The city is very quiet compared with London.

CONTEXTUAL

Compared with last year's results, the company has seen a significant increase in total sales.

COMPLEX

The architectural style of the new library is quite minimalist when compared with the ornate, classical design of the original building.

Usage

often used at the beginning of a sentence or after an adjective to show contrast.

Teaching tip

note that 'compared to' is often used interchangeably in modern English, though 'compared with' is traditionally preferred for highlighting differences between similar things.

Pitfall

Comparing with my old car, this one is fast.Compared with my old car, this one is fast.the past participle 'compared' is required to form this fixed prepositional phrase.

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