区别辨析compare、compare to、compare with与contrast

这些动词（短语）均含“比较”之意。

compare : 侧重比较两个或更多东西的异同优劣，强调相同或类似之处。

• If you compare house prices in the two areas, it's quite amazing how different they are.
  如果比较一下两个地段的房价，你会惊讶地发现它们的差别竟如此之大。
• That seems expensive - have you compared prices in other shops?
  那好像很贵——你有没有比较一下其他店里的价格？

compare to : 指两物有类似或相似之处，从而“把（一物）比作（另一物）。”

• The poet compares his lover's tongue to a razor blade.
  诗人把他恋人的舌头比作剃须刀刀片。
• Still only 25, she has been compared to the greatest dancer of all time.
  她才25岁就被誉为有史以来最伟大的舞蹈家。
• People compared her to Elizabeth Taylor.
  人们把她比作伊丽莎白‧泰勒。
• You can't compare the two cities - they're totally different.
  你不能把这两座城市相提并论——它们完全不同。

compare with : 指“把……用……作比较”以便找出差异或好坏。

• Compare some recent work with your older stuff and you'll see how much you've improved.
  把你近来的作品与以前的对照一下，你就会知道你的进步有多大。
• This road is quite busy compared to/with ours.
  与我们那条路相比，这条路很繁忙。
• Children seem to learn more interesting things compared to/with when we were at school.
  与我们上学时相比，孩子们现在学的有趣的东西似乎更多一些。

contrast : 指比较两个或更多东西之间的差异，侧重不同点。

• If you contrast some of her early writing with her later work, you can see just how much she improved.
  如果你对比一下她的早期作品和后期的作品，就会看出她进步有多大。