0

I'd like to know whether the following sentence is grammatically acceptable.

To what they are compared defines their relationship.

Should I say "What they are compared to defines their relationship." instead?

Laurel
  • 66,382
daenggiee
  • 11
  • 1
  • What is it supposed to mean? "Their relationship is defined by the things to which they are compared"? What are they, and do they and their refer to the same group of people or things? – Stuart F Oct 16 '22 at 11:34
  • Yes, as you said "Their relationship is defined by the things to which they are compared" and 'they' and 'their' refer to the same things/people. – daenggiee Oct 16 '22 at 11:44
  • 2
    I'd worry more about idiomaticity than grammaticality here. 'To what they are compared defines their relationship' sounds at best rarefied. 'What they are compared to defines their relationship' would be my choice here. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 16 '22 at 13:23
  • 1
    Okay. So you're saying that the sentence above doesn't sound natural to native English speakers. Am I following? Then, I'd rather not use that sentence in my essay. Thank you so much for your taking time to answer my question. – daenggiee Oct 16 '22 at 14:31
  • 1
    In itself, I don't see anything wrong with the preferable "What they are compared to defines their relationship." -- I cannot see an error or any lack of being idiomatic. Why the OP wants to say this, or the context is irrelevant. – Greybeard Nov 15 '22 at 16:17
  • This is the pied-piped version of What they are compared to defines their relationship. It's not a terrifically clear sentence out of context, but it's grammatical, and so is the version with the preposition pied-piped along with the relative pronoun. – John Lawler Mar 15 '23 at 17:21
  • "To what they are compared defines their relationship." When I hear this, I assume the speaker's native language is not English. – GEdgar Apr 14 '23 at 19:06

1 Answers1

1

Based on my understanding of patterns of conventional usage, I agree with Edwin that it doesn't have a natural ring to it.

If you want to keep your original sentence shape (it's a good one!) you could write

The object of comparison defines their relationship.

Or for a more flowery tone, you might try

That to which they are compared defines their relationship.

(In that example, "That" functions as a demonstrative pronoun.)

Finally, I don't know about the rules of written composition that you're working with, but in spoken English, this order is definitely fair game:

What they are compared to defines their relationship.

Their relationship is defined by what they're compared to.

Happy essay writing!

sev
  • 11
  • 1