Using the best words for His glory 2

Okay, I realize that you have probably assumed (or maybe hoped!) that I had forgotten all about my acclaimed grammar/usage series, which I started in this previous post.

But alas, I have not forgotten! Here is the second installment of the series. Aren't you excited? Aren't you? anybody?? Well, either way, I am an English teacher, and this is what English teachers do. :) Get ready to learn something. ;-D

Today's lesson is about the difference between compare to and compare with. The following quoted paragraph is taken directly from Theodore Bernstein's book The Careful Writer.

"The choice of to or with to follow compare is not a matter of indifference. When the purpose is to liken two things or to put them in the same category, use to. When the purpose is to place one thing side by side with another, to examine their differences or their similarities, use with. The choice of the preposition was erroneous in each of the following examples: 'The economy can be compared with [to] a runner who is coasting to get his second wind for another sprint'; 'Compared to [with] the $4,900,000,000 the Administration has proposed for foreign aid, the cost of the overseas reactor program will be small.' Since compare to is most often involved in figurative constructions, whereas compare with is the more literal, everyday phrase, the uses calling for with far outnumber those calling for to."

I had to look this up this evening while I was writing comments on papers I was grading. On one paper, I was trying to tell a student that he had not followed the example given on the assignment sheet, and I was trying to tell him to compare them. I thought, I'm the English teacher. Is it compare to or compare with? Hmm. I'd better look that one up, lest I be embarrassed.

I was happy to learn the difference, but I would be even happier if the majority of the students' papers could be compared to the assignment sheet instead of compared with it! :-D LOL

Here's the bottom line: if you saying that the two compared items are similar, use compare to. But usually, when we are comparing in order to point out differences, we should say compare with.

Using the best words for His glory 1

Okay, I realize that this is a bigger deal to me than it may be to some of you. But as a dedicated English teacher, I cannot help but use this medium to promote the proper use of our language. After all, we would never want our careless presentation to detract from the message we have to deliver.

God is a God of order: grass grows upward, water flows down a hill, and so on. Although the Bible does not contain grammar instructions, the nature of God shows us that there are absolutes. This philosophy applies even to the everyday use of words. When a word has a defined meaning, it is important to use the word correctly. More and more frequently, people have been using words to say things that those words do not exactly mean. If this continues, we will eventually have chaos instead of communication as everyone uses his favorite word to mean whatever he wants it to mean.

Occasionally, I would like to present a few common usage problems and the solutions for how to avoid them. Let's do what we can to preserve the meaning of our language. (Don't worry. I do not plan to include grammar diagrams in any of this series.) :)

I'll start with a simple one: anxious vs. eager. We seldom use the word eager, and we seldom use the word anxious properly. According to the American Heritage College Dictionary, anxious means "uneasy and apprehensive about something uncertain; worried." Eager means "having or exhibiting keen interest, intense desire, or impatient expectancy." Basically, anxious and eager both indicate one's emotions while waiting for something. Eager indicates a positive excitement, and anxious indicates a nervous expectation.

Therefore, if you told me "I'm anxious to see you next week," I would wonder what it is about me that scares you. I'll try to be nice, really. The gracious thing to say is "I'm eager to see you next week." Unless we honestly mean that we dread what is ahead, eager is the better word choice.

Bottom line: when talking about a future event, use anxious when you are nervous about it and eager when you are looking forward to it.