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From <https://www.imabi.net/theparticleto.htm>,

> と may mark a subject being compared. As for 似る, ～に似る and ～と似る are possible
> but slightly different. **と in this case marks one side of a mutual
> relation(ship) whereas に only shows the standard of comparison.** They both,
> though, make the second person the basis of comparison when the pattern is
> XはY｛に・と｝似ている. Consider the following:
>
> 31a その父と子は似ている。〇
>
> 31b.その子はお父さんと似ている。 〇
>
> 31c. その子はお父さんに似ている。 〇
>
> 31d. その父は息子と似ている。 〇
>
> 31e. その父は息子に似ている。 X
>
> The child resembles his father.

I don't understand why 31e is incorrect. It seems like it is wrong only
because of the relationship between 父 and 息子 but wouldn't that also make 31c
wrong?

To be honest, I still don't understand the distinction between the two
particle uses (bolded sentence in the quoted section). When you compare `X`
and `Y`, doesn't `Y` naturally become a "standard of comparison""? Does に also
work with asymmetrical relationships? When you say `X` is similar to `Y`,
aren't you also saying that `Y` is like `X`.
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2020-06-09T23:36:57.727
77924
2020-06-10T01:08:17.287
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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question
grammar particle-に particle-と comparative-constructions
Confusion between ~に似てる　~と似てる
Sentence 31e is not wrong at all, but we do say (子が)親に似る much more often than
(親が)子に似る. This is because we all know inheritance and parents are usually
considered as "base" or "reference" in the parent-child relationship. However,
when you've met the father of your old friend for the first time, it's
perfectly natural to say 君のお父さんは君 **に** 似ているね, adopting your friend as the
reference.

To take a simpler example, we say この偽札は本物にとても似ている ("This counterfeit bill
looks very much like a genuine one"), but we do not usually say the opposite,
この本物のお金は偽札に似ている.
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2020-06-10T01:08:17.287
77927
2020-06-10T01:08:17.287
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77924
answer