に比べて【にくらべて】

The expression に比べて is used to compare two things, indicating that one thing is being evaluated relative to another. It translates to "compared to," "in comparison to," or "when compared to" in English. The verb くらべる比べる means "to compare," and に比べて is its て-form attached to the comparison target with the particle に.

Basic usage

Place the item being compared before に比べて, and then state how the main topic differs.

The item marked by に比べて serves as the baseline for comparison, and the rest of the sentence describes how the main subject differs from that baseline.

With と

に比べて can also appear as に比べると, which carries a similar meaning but adds a slight nuance of "when you compare…" or "if you compare…," framing the comparison more conditionally.

Formal variant: に比べ

In written or formal contexts, the て can be dropped to produce に比べ.

Notes

• に比べて can be used with nouns and noun phrases. It cannot directly follow adjectives or verbs without nominalization.
• It is used when discussing statistics, trends, differences in quality, or general observations about how two things differ.
• Unlike より, which is a simple comparative particle, に比べて emphasizes the act of comparison itself and is used for more detailed or explicit comparisons.