sithisaikuru to kurosubaiku wo kuraberu.

You’re right: normal Japanese is usually written without spaces.

So this sentence would normally be written as:

シティサイクルとクロスバイクを比べる。

Spaces are often added in learning materials to make the parts easier to see. They are not part of standard writing.

Here, と connects the two nouns:

• シティサイクル
• クロスバイク

In this sentence, と works like and:

• シティサイクルとクロスバイク = city cycles and cross bikes

With 比べる, this is a very common pattern for listing the things being compared.

Because the two nouns together form one object phrase of the verb.

So:

• シティサイクルとクロスバイク = the two things being grouped together
• を marks that whole group as the object of 比べる

It’s similar to English:

• Compare city cycles and cross bikes.

You wouldn’t normally mark each noun separately in Japanese here.

Because Japanese usually links the items being compared with と, then marks the whole set with を.

So the normal structure is:

• AとBを比べる = compare A and B

Using を after both nouns would sound wrong in standard Japanese.

比べる is the dictionary form of the verb, and its reading is くらべる.

Dictionary form is used in several ways, including:

• plain present/future
• headings or labels
• neutral written style
• citation form in dictionaries

So this sentence could feel like:

• Compare city cycles and cross bikes
• Comparing city cycles and cross bikes
• a title such as Comparing city cycles and cross bikes

The exact natural English depends on context.

It is plain-style, not polite, because the verb is 比べる rather than 比べます.

Compare:

• シティサイクルとクロスバイクを比べる。 = plain
• シティサイクルとクロスバイクを比べます。 = polite

Plain form is very common in:

• dictionary entries
• article titles
• notes
• casual speech
• explanatory writing

Yes. Japanese often omits the subject when it is understood from context.

So this could mean things like:

• I compare city cycles and cross bikes.
• Let’s compare city cycles and cross bikes.
• We compare city cycles and cross bikes.

Japanese often leaves out I / we / you / they unless it is necessary to say them.

It is read:

くらべる

So the whole sentence is:

シティサイクルとクロスバイクをくらべる。

This is useful because kanji often have multiple readings, and learners commonly want to confirm which one is used in a specific verb.

Because they are loanwords / foreign-style terms.

Katakana is commonly used for:

• borrowed words
• foreign names
• technical product terms
• brand-like vocabulary

Here:

• シティサイクル comes from city cycle
• クロスバイク comes from cross bike

Even when the meaning is familiar, learners often ask why these aren’t in kanji or hiragana; the answer is that katakana is the normal script for this kind of vocabulary.

Not always. と has several uses in Japanese. For example, it can mean:

• and when linking nouns
• with in some contexts
• if/when in certain grammar patterns
• a quotation marker in other sentences

In シティサイクルとクロスバイクを比べる, it specifically means and, linking the two things being compared.

That would change the nuance, and it would not be the most natural choice if you mean compare these two specific things.

• と gives a clear pairing: A and B
• や means something more like A and B and so on / such things as A and B

Since comparison usually involves specific items, AとBを比べる is the standard pattern.

Yes. You can say:

シティサイクルとクロスバイクを比較する。

This means basically the same thing: to compare city cycles and cross bikes.

The difference is mainly style:

• 比べる = more basic, everyday verb
• 比較する = more formal or technical

So in casual or general learning materials, 比べる is often the easier and more natural choice.

By itself, not necessarily.

Because 比べる is in dictionary form, the sentence could be understood in different ways depending on context:

• a statement
• a heading/title
• a description of an action
• an informal note

A true command would usually be something like:

• 比べて。 = Compare them.
• 比べろ。 = Compare them. (strong/rough)
• 比べてください。 = Please compare them.

So シティサイクルとクロスバイクを比べる。 is not automatically a command.

The order is:

noun + と + noun + を + verb

More generally:

A と B を 比べる

Japanese usually puts the verb at the end, unlike English.

So even though the meaning is already known, this sentence is a good example of the typical Japanese pattern:

• first the things involved
• then the particle marking their role
• finally the verb

That final-verb structure is one of the biggest differences from English.