Compare with vs. Compare to

[abc]

Hi teachers

Is there any difference between
Compare with and compare to?

Thanks in advance

[Yankee]

Hi abc

To look at either the similarities or the differences between two things, use compare to.

To look at both the similarities and the differences between two things, use compare with.

Amy

[Tom]

Dear Amy

Can you give one example each??

Tom

[Yankee]

OK, Tom, I'll do my very best:

compare to:
Compared to a Maybach, a VW Beetle is dirt cheap.

compare with:
We compared a Maybach with a VW Beetle and our findings are as follows:
- Both are made in Germany
- Both are reliable
- A Maybach costs significantly more than a VW Beetle
- Bulletproof windows are only available as an option for the Maybach
(etc., etc.)

Amy

[Iraqi]

Hi!

“Compare to” is used to show comparison between unlike things.
It is used to stress the resemblance.

e.g.

Scientists compare the human brain to a computer. (Unlike things)

“Compare with”, on the other hand, is used to show comparison between like things.

e.g.

The police compared the forged signature with the original. (Like things)

“Compare with” can be used to show either similarity or difference but is usually used to stress the difference.

Regards

[Natasha81]

That is what I found: "to compare with" means to compare eather sililarities or differences or both, as Amy mentioned above;So, here we go with the forged signiture. They compared both signitures (how similar and how different they looked), and came to the conclusion they belonged to different people. As for "Compare to" it is used to put two objects being compared in the same line, to make them equal so to speak, Eg. His style can be compared to Shakespeare's, meaning he has the same style as Shakespeare did. "Human brain and a computer " means that they work the same way, something like they get the signal/command,process it and react, so they are similar.Hope it makes sense.