compare
verb OPAL WOPAL S
/kəmˈpeə(r)/
/kəmˈper/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they compare | /kəmˈpeə(r)/ /kəmˈper/ |
| he / she / it compares | /kəmˈpeəz/ /kəmˈperz/ |
| past simple compared | /kəmˈpeəd/ /kəmˈperd/ |
| past participle compared | /kəmˈpeəd/ /kəmˈperd/ |
| -ing form comparing | /kəmˈpeərɪŋ/ /kəmˈperɪŋ/ |
- (abbreviation cf., cp.)[transitive] to examine people or things to see how they are similar and how they are different
- compare A and B It is interesting to compare their situation and ours.
- We compared the two reports carefully.
- The internet allows you to compare prices from a variety of companies.
- How can you compare the two things? They are so different!
- Compare and contrast the characters of Jack and Ralph.
- compare A with/to B We compared the results of our study with those of other studies.
- My own problems seem insignificant compared with other people's.
- I've had some difficulties, but they were nothing compared to yours (= they were not nearly as bad as yours).
- Standards in healthcare have improved enormously compared to 40 years ago.
- They receive just over three years of schooling, compared to a national average of 7.3.
- an increase of over 11% compared to the same period last year
- About a third of American adults are obese compared with 24 per cent of Britons
Language Bank contrastcontrastHighlighting differences- This survey highlights a number of differences in the way that teenage boys and girls in the UK spend their free time.
- One of the main differences between the girls and the boys who took part in the research was the way in which they use the internet.
- Unlike the girls, who use the internet mainly to keep in touch with friends, the boys questioned in this survey tend to use the internet for playing computer games.
- The girls differ from the boys in that they tend to spend more time keeping in touch with friends on the phone or on social networking websites.
- Compared to the boys, the girls spend much more time chatting to friends on the phone.
- On average the girls spend four hours a week chatting to friends on the phone. In contrast, very few of the boys spend more than five minutes a day talking to their friends in this way.
- The boys prefer competitive sports and computer games, whereas/while the girls seem to enjoy more cooperative activities, such as shopping with friends.
- When the girls go shopping, they mainly buy clothes and cosmetics. The boys, on the other hand, tend to purchase computer games or gadgets.
Language Bank illustrateillustrateReferring to a chart, graph or table- This bar chart illustrates how many journeys people made on public transport over a three-month period.
- This table compares bus, train, and taxi use between April and June.
- The results are shown in the chart below.
- In this pie chart, the survey results are broken down by age.
- This pie chart breaks down the survey results by age.
- As can be seen from these results, younger people use buses more than older people.
- According to these figures, bus travel accounts for 60% of public transport use.
- From the data in the above graph, it is apparent that buses are the most widely used form of public transport.
Extra Examples- We carefully compared the first report with the second.
- The study was designed to compare the performance of the two methods.
- Before purchasing an insurance policy, be sure to compare the rates offered by the different companies.
- The clinical trial compared two groups of children aged between 8 and 10.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- favourably/favorably
- well
- unfavourably/unfavorably
- …
- cannot
- do not
- with
- compare and contrast
- be nothing compared to somebody/something
- nothing compares to somebody/something
- …
- [intransitive] compare with/to somebody/something to be similar to somebody/something else, either better or worse
- This school compares with the best in the country (= it is as good as them).
- This house doesn't compare with our previous one (= it is not as good).
- Their prices compare favourably to those of their competitors.
- The region's wines compare well with those from elsewhere in Germany.
Extra Examples- Few things compare with the joy of walking on a bright spring morning.
- The city compares favourably with other parts of Brazil.
- These mountains do not compare with the Himalayas.
- Athletics just can't compare with professional sport in terms of material gain.
- Nothing compares with the sight of your child swimming for the first time.
- Our productivity compares well with our UK competitors'.
- This Roman gold doesn't compare to a recent find by a local farmer, which is worth millions.
- This government's record compares favourably with that of our predecessors.
- Average speeds for the journey compare unfavourably with the rest of the rail network.
- How do these results compare with last year's?
- Few trees can compare with our native rowan for ease of cultivation.
- The profit of £23 million compares with a £32 million loss in the previous financial year.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- favourably/favorably
- well
- unfavourably/unfavorably
- …
- cannot
- do not
- with
- compare and contrast
- be nothing compared to somebody/something
- nothing compares to somebody/something
- …
- [transitive] compare A to B to show or state that somebody/something is similar to somebody/something else
- The critics compared his work to that of Martin Amis.
- In her early career she was often compared to Ella Fitzgerald.
- Some observers compare the situation to that of the early 1980s.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- favourably/favorably
- well
- unfavourably/unfavorably
- …
- cannot
- do not
- with
- compare and contrast
- be nothing compared to somebody/something
- nothing compares to somebody/something
- …
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French comparer, from Latin comparare, from compar ‘like, equal’, from com- ‘with’ + par ‘equal’.
Idioms
compare notes (with somebody)
- if two or more people compare notes, they each say what they think about the same event, situation, etc.
- We saw the play separately and compared notes afterwards.
- Let's compare notes on our experiences.
you can’t compare apples and oranges
- (North American English) it is impossible to say that one thing is better than another if the two are completely different
- They are both great but you can't compare apples and oranges.
- No, you’re trying to compare apples and oranges.