English UsageGrammar guide
Inferior To: Standard Pattern
Inferior To: Standard Pattern records the directly documented complement and avoids manufacturing a two-sided “inferior than” comparison without matching authority.
Cambridge documents “inferior to” when something is not as good as the person or thing used as the comparison point.
Key details
Confusion Familyusage-construction
Rule Familycomparison complement
Termsinferior to
Further guidance
Construction
Cambridge gives inferior to someone/something as a collocation.
Style Boundary
This page is about the comparison complement, not every adjectival use of inferior.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- inferior — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge dictionary evidence for inferior to as the documented comparison construction.