Compare Compared Girls Boys Spend People Survey Friends

• it is interesting to compare their situation and ours.
• we compared the two reports carefully.
• we carefully compared the first report with the second.
• my own problems seem insignificant compared with other people's.

compare

1. to examine people or things to see how they are similar and how they are different
• It is interesting to compare their situation and ours.
• We compared the two reports carefully.
• We carefully compared the first report with the second.
• 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 health care have improved enormously compared to 40 years ago.
• 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 telephone or on social networking websites.
• Compared to the boys, the girls spend much more time chatting to friends on the telephone.
• 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.
• 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.
2. 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.
3. to show or state that somebody/something is similar to somebody/something else
• The critics compared his work to that of Martin Amis.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Extra Examples

• Few things compare with= are as good as the joy of walking on a bright spring morning.
• I’ve had some difficulties but they were nothing compared to yours.
• The city compares favourably with other parts of Brazil.
• The golfer Tiger Woods is often compared to Jack Nicklaus.
• These mountains do not compare with the Himalayas.
• These mountains do not compare with= are not nearly as high, impressive, etc. as the Himalayas.
• Athletics just can’t compare with professional sport in terms of material gain.
• Average speeds for the journey compare unfavourably with the rest of the rail network.
• Few trees can compare with our native rowan for ease of cultivation.
• How can you compare the two things? They are so different!
• How do these results compare with last year’s?
• My own problems seem insignificant compared with other people’s.
• Nothing compares with the sight of your child swimming for the first time.
• Our productivity compares well with our UK competitors’.
• The critics compared his work to that of Hemingway.
• The profit of £23 million compares with a £32 million loss in the previous financial year.
• 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.

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they compare
• he / she / it compares
• past simple compared
• past participle compared
• -ing form comparing

Word Origin

• late Middle English: from Old French comparer, from Latin comparare, from compar ‘like, equal’, from com- ‘with’ + par ‘equal’.