#comprise

Instead of just listing it, I'm going to give a lengthy lecture on this one.

tl;dr: Don't use the word COMPRISE, ever, under any circumstances, unless you want to read this whole thing and learn the rules.

Why do so many people have so much trouble with the distinction between COMPRISE and COMPOSE? I guess it’s partly because the words look alike and do have similar, though complimentary, meanings. Let’s try to sort this out once and for all.

To begin with, we will not be talking about COMPOSE in either of the following senses:

1. Mozart composed a violin sonata before he was toilet-trained.

2. Though violently aroused by her glimpse of Ludwig’s burnished wingtips (1), Mildred managed to compose herself sufficiently to answer his question.

The meaning of COMPOSE that we are concerned with is “make up” in the following sense:

3. A mere five ingredients compose the cookie recipe.

I’m sure you will agree, however, that this is not a natural-sounding sentence, so let’s fix it:

4. The cookie recipe is composed of a mere five ingredients.

This sounds more natural and is probably the source of part of the problem: we have put COMPOSE into the passive voice (2). Is there a way to say the same thing in a natural-sounding active voice? Yes, but not with COMPOSE:

5. The cookie recipe consists of a mere five ingredients.

So now we know that COMPOSE (in the sense we are examining) in the passive voice means roughly the same as CONSIST OF. But most people understand this meaning of COMPOSE perfectly well and use it correctly—when they use it. The difficulties arise when they try to use COMPRISE instead, which they might possibly want to do because COMPRISE sounds like a fancier word and they desire to impress.

The problem is that COMPOSE and COMPRISE are not synonyms. They do not mean the same thing and they can’t be used interchangeably. Let’s try to come up with some illustrations of the correct use of COMPRISE:

6. The United States comprises fifty states.

7. The complex comprises an office building, two apartment buildings, a church, several shops, and a parking lot.

8. The cookie recipe comprises a mere five ingredients.

Are we getting the idea? The rough-and-ready synonym for COMPRISE would be “take in.” If you can substitute “take in” for COMPRISE, it has been used correctly.

The problem, which you have of course immediately spotted, is that you can use CONSIST OF instead of COMPRISE in the sentences above. So if COMPRISE means the same as CONSIST OF, and COMPOSE means the same as CONSIST OF—no, wait! COMPOSE does not mean the same as CONSIST OF, except when COMPOSE is in the passive voice. So BE COMPOSED OF means the same as CONSIST OF.

So therefore, if COMPRISE means the same as CONSIST OF, and BE COMPOSED OF means the same as CONSIST OF, COMPRISE should mean the same as BE COMPOSED OF. And it does!

Note, however, that COMPRISE is in the active and IS COMPOSED OF is in the passive. COMPRISE and COMPOSE, both in the active voice, do not mean the same thing. As stated above, they are not synonyms and can’t be used interchangeably.

In the active voice, remember, COMPOSE means “make up.” (So BE COMPOSED OF means “be made up of.”) And COMPRISE means “take in” or “be made up of.”

So COMPRISE means the same as BE COMPOSED OF: that is, COMPRISE in the active voice means the same as COMPOSE in the passive voice.

You might want to read that over.

So if COMPRISE means “take in” or BE COMPOSED OF, COMPRISE cannot have a passive voice—you can’t say “be taken in of.” So both the following sentences are WRONG, in the same way and for the same reason:

* 9. The cookie recipe is taken in of a mere five ingredients. (3)

* 10. The cookie recipe is comprised of a mere five ingredients. (3)

So, to get to the main point of this exercise, the phrase *BE COMPRISED OF is ungrammatical and incorrect and wrong. It does not mean the same as BE COMPOSED OF; it does not mean anything at all. It’s nonsense. COMPRISE can’t be used in the passive.

I realize that this may seem, first of all, very confusing, and second, who cares? Some people do care, however, and someday one of those people may be in a position to do you some good, or some harm. And you never know when you might run into one. So here are the rough-and-ready rules:

1. Never use BE COMPRISED OF.

2. Use BE COMPOSED OF, CONSIST OF, and COMPRISE (note: active voice!) interchangeably.

These two rules are simple and easy to understand, but if you’d rather not bother learning them, don’t. Just don’t use COMPRISE at all. Simply use CONSIST OF or BE COMPOSED OF instead.

1. No, sorry; it just means a kind of shoes.

2. Do we need an essay on the difference between active and passive? Surely not.

My cat does whatever she wants

I comply

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