Korean Job Discussion Forums

[waggo]

Is there a difference in compare something to/with something else?

If so could somebody please show me through example please.

Thankyou.

[Wangja]

[waggo]

Thankyou Wanja I got it. You the man!

Korea compared to England has less rain.

Korea compared with England has a similar population.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I'm not trying to cause a grammar fight and I'm certainly not going to argue with Strunk and White, but is that how most people use compare to/with? Those may be the rules, but is that common usage? Enquiring minds want to know.

[Wangja]

Common usage (where I learned English) is that compared TO is not permissible.

If by common usage you mean vulgar usage then I suppose anything goes.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[Wangja]

In the true sense of the word, yes, vulgar.

[tzechuk]

[Wangja]

It almost sounds as if we went to the same school tzechuk, but we didn't have girls at my school.

Anyway, I said above about the word vulgar "in the true sense". It seems now that what I learned as the "true sense" has, like me, become dated and relegated to the third meaning.

vulgar

• adjective 1 lacking sophistication or good taste. 2 making explicit and inappropriate reference to sex or bodily functions. 3 dated characteristic of or belonging to ordinary people.
— DERIVATIVES vulgarity noun (pl. vulgarities) vulgarly adverb.

— ORIGIN Latin vulgaris, from vulgus ��common people��.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

This is from Don LePan, _The Broadview Book of Common Errors in English_, 2nd ed., Toronto: 1995, p. 36.

"compare to / compare with: To compare something to something else is to liken it, especially when speaking metaphorically (e.g. 'Can I compare thee to a summers day?'). To compare something with something else is to judge how the two are similar or different ('If you compare one brand with anothers you will noitice the differences.'). Use compare with when noting differences."

I knew having that book on my desk would come in handy some day. Sure isn't much use for "Can you play the piano? Yes, I can play the piano."

[some waygug-in]

Hey, two can play at that game.

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/compareto.html

These are sometimes interchangeable, but when you are stressing similarities between the items compared, the most common word is ��to��: "She compared his home-made wine to toxic waste.�� If you are examining both similarities and differences, use ��with��: ��The teacher compared Steve��s exam with Robert��s to see whether they had cheated.��



Are you confused yet? I am.

[waggo]

Yes now i am totally confused!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wangja]

Don't be, waggo, simply avoid "compared to" except when comparing dofferences.

The rest is bovine faeces.

[Privateer]

[Ya-ta Boy]

A week or so ago eamo mentioned there is some class consciousness about accents. Maybe this 'vulgar' expression (compared to) is part of that silliness.