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Fine-Tuning 10, Compose/Comprise

 
 
Roberta
 
Reply Mon 2 Jun, 2003 05:53 am
Compose means to make up.

The parts compose the whole. (The parts make up the whole.)
The whole is composed of the parts. (The whole is made up of the parts.)

Comprise means to include, contain, or consist of.
The whole comprises the parts. (The whole consists of the parts.)

Note: Comprised of is incorrect usage.
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Type: Discussion • Score: 3 • Views: 2,298 • Replies: 10
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cavfancier
 
  1  
Reply Mon 2 Jun, 2003 06:54 am
This composed sentence comprises of a few words.
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Mon 2 Jun, 2003 07:39 am
True, cav.
However, since my thesis on Marxism was composed entirely of sentences copied off the Marx Brothers Home Page, my examination notes comprised bad marks. :wink:
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Piffka
 
  1  
Reply Mon 2 Jun, 2003 08:45 am
Good point, Roberta.

Quote:
Comprise literally means "is made up of," so "The team is comprised of" literally means "The team is made up of of."


This may be my husband's second pet peeve, learned at his papa's knee. I've heard both of them go on and on about it, especially when they found it used in a newspaper or, God forbid, a magazine.

"Comprised of" is hard to hear, but I've read it has been in use (at least in print) since the middle of the nineteenth century. It has received that worst of all English awards, that sneaking into the grammar books based on common usage.

One source says if you're confused, use "constitute" instead. Smile

from http://www.bartleby.com/64/C003/070.html
Quote:
If you follow the traditional rule, you say that the whole comprises the parts and that the parts compose the whole. Thus you would say The Union comprises fifty states and Fifty states compose (or constitute or make up) the Union. While writers often maintain this distinction, comprise is increasingly used in place of compose, especially in the passive: The Union is comprised of fifty states. Don't be surprised if this usage still elicits comments, however. In an earlier survey, a majority of the Usage Panel found this use of comprise unacceptable.


I concur.
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cavfancier
 
  1  
Reply Mon 2 Jun, 2003 03:03 pm
Walter, you may have had a point there Wink They worked as a group for their mutual benefit, but there was always a clear leader running the show....therefore proving the major fallacy of Marxism, not taking human nature into consideration in the philosophy...you know, that thesis probably would have worked at a state college...
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Mon 2 Jun, 2003 03:10 pm
Yeah, cav, but I forgot to mention the source ... :wink:
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cavfancier
 
  1  
Reply Mon 2 Jun, 2003 03:17 pm
Well, I used to get docked marks for figuring out math word problems in my head, and then not showing the calculations....my question was always "does not the end justify the means?" Muahaha....
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Mon 2 Jun, 2003 03:25 pm
Since I don't want to loose my last credibilty, I'm not reporting about my school reality ... but my math calculations have always been written down in my schoolfriends papers and ....
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Roberta
 
  1  
Reply Mon 2 Jun, 2003 04:45 pm
Walter, So your favorite Marx brother was Karl? What a wild and crazy guy he was.

My favorite is Groucho. Don't get me started on lines from Marx Brothers movies. Too late.

Margaret Dumas: Hold me closer. Closer!
Groucho: If I was holding you any closer, I'd be behind you.

Cav, you could do math calculations in your head. Mucho impressive. I couldn't do them in my head or on paper.

Piffka, That's for the good info. I'm a conservative in English. "Comprised of" will never be okay with me.
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cavfancier
 
  1  
Reply Mon 2 Jun, 2003 04:55 pm
Roberta, interestingly enough, it was only the math problems that were put into words that I could solve in my head...go figure, so to speak, lol. Nowadays, I can calculate a grocery bill to within a dollar or so on the fly, but only because I need to when shopping for a catering...gotta keep the food cost on the straight and narrow....but don't ask me about taxes Rolling Eyes
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Roberta
 
  1  
Reply Tue 3 Jun, 2003 02:53 am
Cav, So you were a verbal math wiz.

I've found that I'm better in math than I thought I was, just so long as the math has an immediate practical application. I actually did some algebra in my work. It made perfect sense to me in context. But in math class, I couldn't do it. No how, no way.
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