Meaning & use
comparable
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Meanings
adjectiveafter a verb
Similar to something else in size, quality, or importance, so that the two can be fairly compared.
Grammar: Usually followed by to or with: the two cars are comparable in price.
Patterns
- comparable to something
- comparable with something
- comparable in something
Her salary is comparable to what her colleagues earn.
The two phones are comparable in size and weight.
No other city of comparable size has such a good train system.
adjectivenot comparable
Able to be examined side by side with something else because the two share enough features.
Grammar: Often negated: the situations are simply not comparable.
Patterns
- not comparable
- hardly comparable
Running a shop and running a hospital are hardly comparable.
The old and new data are not comparable because the methods differ.
Those two events are not directly comparable.
Common combinations
- comparable to
- The new model is comparable to the old one in speed.
- comparable with
- Results were comparable with those of last year.
- roughly comparable
- The two offers are roughly comparable.
- comparable size
- They live in houses of comparable size.
- directly comparable
- The figures are not directly comparable.
Synonyms and how they differ
- similar
- Similar only says things resemble each other, while comparable says they are close enough to be judged side by side.
- equivalent
- Equivalent suggests equal value or effect, which is stronger than comparable.
- on a par
- On a par is an informal phrase that stresses equal level or quality.
- analogous
- Analogous is more formal and points to a similarity in structure or function rather than level.
Opposites
Word family
- compare verb
- to examine how things are alike or different
- comparison noun
- the act of comparing
- comparably adverb
- in a similar way or to a similar degree
- incomparable adjective
- so good that nothing can match it
- comparative adjective
- involving comparison between things
Commonly confused: comparable or comparative?
comparable vs comparative
Comparable means similar enough to compare. Comparative means based on comparing, as in a comparative study, or relative, as in comparative calm.
Practice
The two apartments are ___ in price, so choose the one nearer the station.
Choose one answer.
Comparable in price means roughly equal in price. Comparative would mean involving a comparison, which does not fit here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “comparable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.