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Tue 21 Feb, 2017 05:18 pm
Are any of the sentences below correct? If not, how should I write it? The actual sentence is pretty long, so I would like to keep this structure instead of using "John found that...".
John found a 25% higher survival in dogs than cats.
John found a 25% higher survival in dogs compared with cats.
Thanks very much!
@Doubtful,
They're both fine. It's more common and perhaps natural to write "compared to" instead of "compared with." I think the first option is better. Its meaning is clear and "higher...than" is a shorter and more common construction than "higher... compared with/to." Also, add "rate" after the word survival.
@perennialloner,
I read ages ago that "compare to" should be used when comparing different things, and "compare with," when comparing similar things. But I see now that "to" is also acceptable when comparing similar things and it is more common in American English. Thanks.
Oh, btw, the actual sentence compares similar things (two groups of patients submitted to different surgeries).
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/compare-with-or-compare-to
http://grammarist.com/usage/compared-to-or-compared-with/
@Doubtful,
It's probably a distinction that isn't adhered to. Of course it's not wrong to say "compared with." Do what feels best to you! These are really minor details.
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