～に比べて・と比べて

About

The verb 比くらべる means "to compare" and is used to make comparisons.

比くらべる has the common patterns of ～に比くらべて and ～と比くらべて, which differ only slightly in nuance:

に比くらべて makes more contrastive statements, while と比くらべて makes more neutral, comparative statements.

E.g. 先週せんしゅうに比くらべてちょっと寒さむいね。 "Compared to last week, it's a bit chilly, isn't it?"

E.g. カナダと比くらべて、日本にほんは物価ぶっかが安やすい。 "Compared to Canada, the cost of living in Japan is low."

比くらべる can also be used in the conditional forms: 比くらべたら・比くらべると・比くらべれば. These only have a slight difference in nuance from the て form.

E.g. 10年ねん前まえに比くらべると、この辺あたりはだいぶ便利べんりになった。 "To compare it to 10 years ago, that area is much more convenient."

E.g. 母ははの苦労くろうと比くらべれば、こんなの大変たいへんでもなんでもない。 "Compared to my mother's struggles, this isn't difficult at all."

In formal contexts, the stem 「比くらべ」 can be used.

E.g. 昨年さくねんに比くらべ、今年度こんねんどの売うり上あげは非常ひじょうに低ひくい。 "In comparison to the previous year, this year's sales are extremely low."

VS より

比くらべる constructs can be substituted for より in casual contexts, but there is a difference in nuance: より is used to express that "X is more Y", while 比くらべる is used to make comparisons.

Summary

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  The verb 比くらべる means "to compare" and is used to make comparisons

• 

  比くらべる has common patterns: ～に比くらべて, ～と比くらべて

• 

  に比くらべて makes more contrastive statements

• 

  と比くらべて makes more neutral, comparative statements

• 

  比くらべる can also be used in the conditional forms: 比くらべたら・比くらべると・比くらべれば

• 

  In formal contexts, the stem 「比くらべ」 can be used