に比べて— Compared To

• 去年に比べて、今年は雨が多い。

  Kyonen ni kurabete, kotoshi wa ame ga ooi.

  Compared to last year, there is a lot of rain this year.

  去年に比べて sets last year as the baseline for comparing this year's rain.

• 都会に比べて、田舎は物価が安い。

  Tokai ni kurabete, inaka wa bukka ga yasui.

  Compared to the city, prices are cheaper in the countryside.

  都会に比べて makes the city the standard against which the countryside is measured.

• 以前に比べ、彼の日本語はずいぶん上達した。

  Izen ni kurabe, kare no nihongo wa zuibun joutatsu shita.

  Compared to before, his Japanese has improved considerably.

  に比べ (formal) sets 'before' as the reference point for his improvement.

• ・に比べ (without て) is the more formal/written variant.
• ・The compared standard takes に; the main topic is often marked with は.
• ・Neutral register, usable in both speech and writing.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones に比べて is tested against.

• ～ほど～ない — Nothing Compares