View source for Comprise (grammar)

To '''comprise''' is a [[verb]] that gives much difficulty.  This arises from a lack of clarity about its meaning. (There is also an article about [[Comprise (spelling)|its spelling]].) The basic meaning of 'to '''comprise'''' is like that of 'to be composed of', 'to be made up of', or 'to contain'.  'The University of Hull '''comprises''' two campuses, one in Hull and the other in Scarborough.'  This is a good construction in the [[active voice]] - <u>NEVER</u> write, in the active voice, 'It comprises <s>of</s>'.
*A distinction is drawn by careful writers between '''comprise''' and '''include'''.  This distinction is akin to that between the abbreviations [[E.g. - i.e.|i.e. and e.g.]]: 
**'''comprise''' is used to mean 'Here is a complete list of those things which make up the thing of which I am speaking', in other words, it is rather like 'i.e.'  
::'''''[[etymology|Etymological]] note''''': it is derived from the [[Latin]] ''comprehendĕre'', ~ 'to take [in] with [all of]'.
**To '''include''', on the other hand, is used for 'Here are some of the things which go to make up the thing of which I am talking' - for example, 'The United Nations includes France and Korea', says the careful writer; but if she (or he) says 'The United Nations comprises ... ', s/he has then to list the 190 nations that make up the UN.  (''''Include'''' is derived from ''in'', 'within' + ''claudĕre'', 'to enclose, shut in': in other words, something <u>included</u> in a category is <u>one</u> of those <u>within</u> it, not all of them.)

So one difficulty in the use of 'comprise' is that of precision in the use of vocabulary, as between '''comprise''' and '''include'''. A second is the distinction between '''compose''' and '''comprise'''. (It is possible that some confusion arises because the sounds of these two are similar.)
*When you are talking about the items which form, or add up to, a whole set, be careful. The items '''constitute''', '''make up''' or '''compose''' the set; the set '''comprises''' [all] the items. ('To '''comprise'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> is related [[etymology|etymologically]] to the [[adjective]] '''comprehensive''', meaning 'including everything [or everybody]', as well as 'to '''comprehend'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>.) 
**It is an error to use either '''compose''' or '''comprise''' in the [[Voice (grammatical)|active voice]] with the [[preposition]] <s>'''of'''</s>. 'England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland <u>compose</u> the United Kingdom' has the same meaning as 'The United Kingdom comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland', and both are acceptable; whereas both 'England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland <s>compose of</s> the United Kingdom' and 'England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland <s>comprise of</s> the United Kingdom' are wrong. 

A third difficulty that arises with '''comprise''' is in an area of grammar, usage and academic taste.
*In the [[passive voice]], a whole may be '''composed <u>of</u>''' its several parts. [[The King's English|Fowler in 1931]] quoted, as an error, a phrase from ''The Times'': 'A few companies, ''comprised'' mainly ''of'' militiamen', suggesting that the writer should have written either '''composed of''' or '''comprising'''. (It is an example of the Fowler brother's third category of [[malaprop]]s.) However, [[Burchfield's Fowler]], of 1996, says that the [[passive]] construction '''be comprised of''', which was first recorded in 1874, is a disputed or erroneous use, but "Opposition to this ... is ... weakening." The dispute over this use is founded on the meaning, as outlined above, 'to be composed of', 'to be made up of', or 'to contain'. One cannot say that a set '<s>is contained of</s>', so one cannot say '<s>it is comprised of</s>' either. You will find that some academics still 'oppose' this use, but it is not necessarily wrong for all of them, nor any other critic. It is more acceptable to write, for such readers, in the active voice: 'It '''comprises'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>, or use the [[-ing participle|active participle]] '''comprising'''.

[[category:usage errors]]
[[category:verbs]]
[[category:malaprop 3]]
[[category:academic English]]