Comprise vs. Compose

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: â€Å"Wikipedia is composed of articles by many different volunteers† or â€Å"Contributions from 15 volunteers may compose one Wikipedia article.† Comprise Something comprises, or consists of, separate elements. â€Å"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!