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Comparative vs Comparable - What's the difference?

comparative | comparable |

In grammar terms the difference between comparative and comparable

is that comparative is a word in the comparative form while comparable is said of an adjective that has a comparative and superlative form.

comparative

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Of or relating to comparison.
  • * Granvill
  • The comparative faculty.
  • Using comparison as a method of study, or founded on something using it.
  • comparative anatomy
  • Approximated by comparison; relative.
  • * Whewell
  • The recurrence of comparative warmth and cold.
  • * Bentley
  • The bubble, by reason of its comparative levity to the fluid that encloses it, would necessarily ascend to the top.
  • (obsolete) Comparable; bearing comparison.
  • * 1819 , Lord Byron, Don Juan , II.137:
  • And need he had of slumber yet, for none / Had suffered moreā€”his hardships were comparative / To those related in my grand-dad's Narrative .

    Derived terms

    * comparatively * * comparativeness * comparativism * comparativist * comparativistic

    Noun

    (wikipedia comparative) (en noun)
  • (grammar) A construction showing a relative quality, in English usually formed by adding more'' or appending ''-er''. For example, the comparative of ''green'' is ''greener''; of ''evil'', ''more evil .
  • (grammar) A word in the comparative form.
  • (obsolete) An equal; a rival; a compeer.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
  • Gerard ever was / His full comparative .
  • (obsolete) One who makes comparisons; one who affects wit.
  • * .67:
  • Every beardless vain comparative .

    See also

    * contrastive

    References

    * * * ----

    comparable

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Able to be compared (to).
  • Similar (to); like.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Philip J. Bushnell
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance , passage=Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.}}
  • (mathematics) Constituting a pair in a particular partial order.
  • (grammar) Said of an adjective that has a comparative and superlative form.
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something suitable for comparison.
  • * {{quote-news, 2009, January 2, Fred A. Bernstein, Catskill Home Prices: How Low Will They Go?, New York Times citation
  • , passage=And the appraiser said he couldn't come up with comparables , because there hadn't been any sales nearby in several months. }} ----