compare... with/compare... to

我们在 compared with/to 条目中论述了独立使用的 compared with 与 compared to 是可以通用的,但是我们并没有讲 compare...with 与 compare...to 是完全可以通用的。因为这两个结构在意义和用法上还是有一些区别的。当表达“把……比作……”这个意思的时候,用 compare...to,当表达“将……与……作比较”这个意思的时候,用 compare...with。

1. Shakespeare compared the world to a stage. (Wood) 莎士比亚把人世比作舞台。

2. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” (Shakespeare) 我可以把你比作夏天吗?

3. The police compared the fingerprints on the gun with those on the door. (MD) 警察将枪上的指纹与门上的相比较。

4. We can start by comparing the work of the historian with the work of the politician. (LDPV) 我们可以首先把历史学家的著作同政治家的著作作一比较。

对于初学者,掌握了 compare... with 和 compare... to 的这一区别,就足够了。对于英语教师和英语研究者还应知道,在较少的情况下,人们有时也使用 compare... to 来表达“将……同……作比较”的意思。例如:

1. My elder brother, Steve, gets straight A's. I am an average student — mostly B's. My father always compares me to him and says, "If Steve can make A's why can't you?" 我哥哥史蒂夫，一直得“优”，而我是个一般水平的学生，通常是“良”。我父亲总是把我和他作比较。他说：“既然史蒂夫能得“优”，为什么你不能呢？”

2. The work was hard and dangerous and the hours were long, but the pay was good compared to the wages in the old country. 这项工作很艰苦，很危险，而且时间也很长，但是与这个国家过去的工资相比较，它的报酬还是很可观的。

3. At CDF, we took census figures of school-age children and compared those numbers to school enrollments. (Hillary, Living History) 在儿童保护基金会我们对学龄儿童的人数进行了普查，并把此数字与实际注册人数进行了对比。

此外,还应懂得,在 cannot compare 这一特殊结构中 compare with 与 compare to 是没有区别的:

1. Social life in a village cannot compare to that of a large city. (LDPV) 乡村的社会生活是不可能与大城市的社会生活相比的。

2. Social life in a village cannot compare with that of a large city. (LDPV) 乡村的社会生活不能与大城市的社会生活相比。

3. The south of England is certainly beautiful, but it can't compare with the south of France for sunshine. (ODCIE) 英格兰南部诚然是美丽的，但是就充足的阳光而言，它与法国南部是无法相比的。

4. The south of England is certainly beautiful, but it can't compare to the south of France for sunshine. (ODCIE) 英格兰南部诚然是美丽的，但是就充足的阳光而言，它与法国南部是无法相比的。