Comparison in SC with tools like ( compared with/to )

Question

Hi , 
my question is about comparison tools , such as : (this is from Magoosh Idiom ebook )
 (p.10 ) 
compare A to B
compare to
compared to (or compared with)
in contrast to A, B

"The GMAT does not like the words “compared to” or “compared with” combined with other
comparative words:
 Compared to A, B is taller.
A has more money, compared to B.

However , in the preposition "with" , we have 3 idioms :
compare A with B
contrast A with B
consistent with

and here is a  right  example : 
17)  Compared with  most Old World wines, California wines  are simpler  and  more fruit dominant

so , we used "compared with " AND other
comparative words:more & -er .

so please can you explain clearly what type of these comparison idioms are true ? and when "compared with " is considered wrong ?

Thanks

SonalSinha803 · Answer

According to Google  , compared with is used to point out differences, on the other hand, compared to is used for pointing out similarity. If one situation is analogous to another, we use compare to.

Hope this helps, it helped me though

Regards !!

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ishan92 · Answer

'Compare to' is used to show how 2 different things are similar, while, 'compare with' is used to compare similarities between 2 similar things

In short, 
If 2 things are similar, use 'with'. Eg: Ram compared his shirt  with   that of Sham. Here, you will use 'with' as you are comparing 2 similar things,ie, shirts.
If 2 things are not similar, use 'to'.

foryearss · Answer

so can we use compared with/to AND more/-er at the same time ? 
I am confused because of this point , in the idioms ebook, they made it clear that we CAN'T . but a few pages later , it was used and considered right . 
17)  Compared with  most Old World wines, California wines are  simpler and more fruit dominant .

foryearss · Answer

please can you explain clearly what type of these comparison idioms are true ? and when "compared with " is considered wrong ?

foryearss · Answer

Please  GMATNinja

GMATNinja · Answer

I don't think you're going to like my response! Honestly, I wouldn't worry about this at all. For starters, I don't think it's a great use of time to obsess over a single family of idioms. There are more than 25,000 idioms in English, so what are the odds that any individual idiom that you HAPPEN to study is going to make a huge difference? More on that here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/experts-topi ... 41848.html. Second, I'm not sure that there are any official GMAT questions in which the distinction between "compared with" and "compared to" is actually a deciding factor. I think that ishan92 is broadly correct -- "compared with" would make a bit more sense if two things are similar ("Compared with the GMAT, the GRE almost seems fun and easy."), and "compared to" might be used when two things are more obviously different ("The baby screamed all night, so her exhausted father compared her to a Tasmanian devil.") But there's a blurry line between those two scenarios, and I'm not sure that it will ever really matter on an official question. The GMAT does, of course, LOVE comparisons -- but comparison questions are mostly concerned with the logic of what, exactly, is being compared. More on comparisons in this long-winded webinar and in this follow-up video . I hope this helps a bit!

foryearss · Answer

Sure , thanks !
What about this question : 
 
I was confuse because in Idioms E-book they it was mentioned clearly that we CANNOT , but after few pages it was used .
For example , 
17)  Compared with  most Old World wines, California wines are  simpler  and more fruit dominant . (considered right)
Compared to A, B is taller. (considered wrong)
A has more money, compared to B. (considered wrong)

Mo2men · Answer

Dear  GMATNinja

I'm really interested in the question of the poster. However, you seem answer another question. I know the GMAT does not care about the subtle difference between 'compared' to or 'compared with'. But actually, the real question, can we combine 2 types of comparison in 1 sentence. i.e. From your example above can we say:

1- Compared with the GMAT, the GRE is  easier .
or
Compared with the GMAT, the GRE is  easy .

2- Compared to John, Anne has  more  money.
or
 Compared to John, Anne has  significant amount of  money.

Which one is correct?

Thanks in advance

GMATNinja · Answer

Hm, this is a little bit tricky. Personally, I think that there's no good reason to write any of the following: Compared with the GMAT, the GRE is easier . Compared to John, Anne has more money. Compared to A, B is taller. A has more money, compared to B. These all just seem redundant and silly to me. The fact that you're making a comparison is obvious from the phrase "compared to" or "compared with." So why "double" the comparison by using "easier" or "more" or "taller"? In all four of these cases, there are clearly much better ways to write the sentence. But this is a little bit different: 1. Compared with most Old World wines, California wines are simpler and more fruit dominant. 2. Compared with most Old World wines, California wines are simple and more fruit dominant. In this case, I'd argue that replacing "simpler" with "simple" -- removing the "double comparison" -- would change the meaning in an unfortunate way. If the sentence said "simple", then it would sound like California wines are actually simple, and then you'd be basically insulting California wines. (Speaking as an ex-Californian, ex-bartender: don't mess with California wines.) We want to say that California wines are simpler than their Old World counterparts (and that's not actually true, incidentally -- there have been quite a few blind tasting competitions that suggest the opposite), not that California wines are simple . To be fair: technically speaking, the phrase "compared with most Old World wines" should make it clear that California wines are simple only relative to Old World wines . But in reality, most readers would understand the meaning much more clearly if the sentence used "simpler" instead of "simple." So there's really no hard-and-fast rule that you can apply to this situation, unfortunately. I'd love to say that it's ALWAYS REDUNDANT to use "compared with" or "compared to" with another comparison word ("simpler", "easier", etc.), but I think there are cases when it actually makes sense to do so. Those cases are rare, but they certainly exist. Do I get a prize for writing the least satisfying answers ever?

VerbalBot · Answer

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Comparison in SC with tools like ( compared with/to )

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