Difference between comprise and compose

This is part of the difference between series.

Two commonly confused words are comprise and compose. Here’s the difference between the two.

Comprise

Comprise means to contain something.

The prison population comprises prisoners.

The neighbourhood comprises residents.

If the whole comes first, use comprise.

Compose

Compose, on the other hand, means to make up something.

Prisoners compose the prison population.

Residents compose the neighbourhood.

If the parts that make up the whole come first, use compose.

That’s pretty much it, use comprise if the subject is the whole and use compose if the subject is the whole’s parts.

Which words do you confuse? Let me know in the comments below.

By Kim Siever

I am a copywriter and copyeditor. I blog on writing and social media tips mostly, but I sometimes throw in my thoughts about running a small business. Follow me on Twitter at @hotpepper.