idiom (comparative frame) · neutral

___ pales in comparison to ___

Band 5-6speakingtask2

Used to say that something is much less important, impressive, or good when compared with something else.

Examples

“His earlier work pales in comparison to his latest novel.”

“The city's nightlife pales in comparison to the capital's.”

“The damage caused by last year's storm pales in comparison to the recent floods.”

Band 8 sentence

“The preliminary findings pale in comparison to the comprehensive data gathered over the five-year study.”

Collocations

  • pales in comparison to
  • pales into insignificance

Common mistakes

pales in comparison with to→pales in comparison to / pales in comparison with

X pales compared to Y→X pales in comparison to Y

Say it for a higher band

5is much less impressive than→6is small compared to→7+pales in comparison to

Synonyms

is insignificant compared with

Easily confused

is small compared to

“The achievement is small compared to what they expected.”

Related words

the extent to which + clauseas + adjective + asA + adjective + -er + than Bby contrast, + clausemore + adjective + thannot as/so + adjective + asthe + superlative + (noun)the ratio of + A + to + B

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In Comparatives

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