Sparky: Here, I got the newspaper and the mail.

Mr. Maru: Wow Sparky! You are a really smart dog compared to other dogs.

Sparky: Thanks, you are a great master for a human.

Mr. Maru: Have you had other masters that aren't human?

Sparky: No, no. I mean compared to other dog owners you are nicer.

Mr. Maru: Really? Um thanks I guess. You speak pretty good English for a dog.

Sparky: Thanks Mr. Maru!

What is the difference between 'compared to' and 'compared with'? And how do we use 'for', 'compared to' and 'compared with' in a sentence? We can use these words to limit or qualify our statements. This helps make your sentence clearer.

How to Use 'Compared to/with'

You can use 'compared to' or 'compared with' to limit phrases. This helps make the statement stronger. The terms 'compared to' and 'compared with' are usually used with subjects or groups of things. For example,

Cricket is an exciting sport compared to badminton. (Cricket is only exciting when you compare it to badminton.)
Cricket is a boring sport compared with football. (When you compare cricket to football and only football, it is boring.)

Be careful! Please do not use the comparative (e.g. more boring, better, faster...)

X Compared to other dog owners you are nicer.
O Compared to other dog owners you are really nice.

There is no big difference between 'compared to' and 'compared with' when used this way.

How to Use 'For'

We can use 'for' to limit or make the group of things we are talking about smaller. You need to use a single item (e.g. a young player, a pop song...) For example,

For a young player, he is very skilled. (Compared to other young players, he is very skilled. When we compare him to only young players he is very skilled.)
For a major league player, he isn't very skilled. (Compared to other players in the major league, he isn't very skilled. When compare him to a bigger group of people (everyone in the major league) he isn't very skilled.)

Do you think you understand? Let's take a quiz:

1) ___________, the teenager has a deep and rich voice.

A) For a young singer

B) Compared to a young singer

C) Compared with a younger singer

2) He is ________ compared to John.

A) the fastest

B) fast

C) faster

3) Compared _________, swimming is good exercise.

A) to faster walk in the park

B) to walk in the park

C) to a walk in the park

Answers

1) A) - B) is wrong because a teenager is a young singer, we need to compare the teenager with something outside its group. C) is wrong because we can not use comparatives.

2) B) - A) and C) are wrong because we can't use comparatives or superlatives (fastest, most important, etc...)

3) C) - 'a walk in the park' is being compared to 'swimming'.

Corrected Dialog:

Sparky: Here, I got the newspaper and the mail.

Mr. Maru: Wow Sparky! You are a really smart dog compared to other dogs.

Sparky: Thanks, you are a great master for a human for a young guy.

Mr. Maru: Have you had other masters that aren't human?

Sparky: No, no. I mean compared to other dog owners you are nicer really nice.

Mr. Maru: Really? Um thanks I guess. You speak pretty good English for a dog.

Sparky: Thanks Mr. Maru!

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