問：有英文書說，綠海龜上岸產卵，每次約產一百枚左右：Compared to the number of eggs laid by wholly aquatic animals such as mackerel or lobsters, a hundred is not very many（和鯖、龍蝦等純海洋動物相比，產卵一百枚並不算多）。Compared to是不是應改為compared with？
答：正式而言，compare A to B是「把A比擬作B」，compare A with B則是「比較A、B的異同」，例如：（1）The poet compares the roll of drums to the sound of thunder（詩人把鼓聲比擬作雷聲）。（2）Compared with iron, this metal is more malleable（和鐵比較，這金屬延展力較強）。準此，讀者示下那一句，當然應用with。
不過，現代英文往往把compare to當作compare with。韋氏英文字典 Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's English Dictionary 和劍橋英文字典 Cambridge International Dictionary of English compare條下有這樣的例子：（1）compare apples to / with apples（以蘋果和蘋果比較）。（2）This road is quite busy compared to / with ours（和我們那條路相比，這條路交通頗為繁忙）。這兩句，有人會視用to的寫法錯誤；但這樣的人，恐怕越來越少。麥美倫出版社的英語用法專書 The Good English Guide 談到compare to和compare with的不同用法，說這不同用法雖然值得保留，但要保留恐已無望：This is a useful distinction worth preserving, but it is probably a lost cause。這是英文大勢所趨，我們大概也不必執着。
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