These two words so often get mixed up that it has almost become acceptable to use them interchangeably. Just the other day, I saw an incorrect usage of comprise on a well-respected university’s website. I had to make sure that I wasn’t the one who got them mixed up and went and looked it up. Sure enough, the university had used the incorrect phrase comprise of.
*Need to use my red pen intensifies*
Needless to say, marking up my computer screen didn’t do any good. So I thought I’d write a blog post about it in case anyone needed the same type of clarification I did.
The difference between comprise vs. compose
Compose
Something can be composed of separate elements. For instance: “Wikipedia is composed of articles by many different volunteers” or “Contributions from 15 volunteers may compose one Wikipedia article.”
Comprise
Something comprises, or consists of, separate elements. “Wikipedia comprises articles from many different volunteers.”
Another way to think of this is that a whole is comprised of parts – and parts compose a whole.
An excellent, very short explanation (but more complete than what I’ve given) can be found in The Columbian Guide to Standard American English. Take a peek!
