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English 1b3 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Comprised (of)
I have read that the verb 'to comprise' should not be followed by 'of', but I feel in some of the sentences below it seems so natural and less awkward than the version with 'of'.
Which versions are correct?
a. The house comprises two bedrooms, one bathroom and a living room.
b. The house comprises of two bedrooms, one bathroom and a living room.
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c. I see a country comprised great people.
d. I see a country comprised of great people.
What about in this case? Is a or b correct?
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e. Previously, the home comprised two bedrooms. Now it has just one bedroom.
f. Previously, the home comprised of two bedrooms. Now it has just one bedroom.
Which versions are correct?
a. The house comprises two bedrooms, one bathroom and a living room.
b. The house comprises of two bedrooms, one bathroom and a living room.
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c. I see a country comprised great people.
d. I see a country comprised of great people.
What about in this case? Is a or b correct?
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e. Previously, the home comprised two bedrooms. Now it has just one bedroom.
f. Previously, the home comprised of two bedrooms. Now it has just one bedroom.
Top answer
a) correct b) incorrect c) probably incorrect (could theoretically mean "I see that a country comprised great people" but feels pretty awkward); doesn't mean the same as (d) d) this is the "problem usage"; some people may dislike it, but personally I think it is acceptable e) correct f) incorrect
- a) correct b) incorrect c) probably incorrect (could theoretically mean "I see that a country comprised great people" but feels pretty awkward); doesn't mean the same as (d) d) this is the "problem usage"; some people may dislike it, but personally I think it is acceptable e) correct f) incorrect
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4 Answers
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a) correct
b) incorrect
c) probably incorrect (could theoretically mean "I see that a country comprised great people" but feels pretty awkward); doesn't mean the same as (d)
d) this is the "problem usage"; some people may dislike it, but personally I think it is acceptable
e) correct
f) incorrect
b) incorrect
c) probably incorrect (could theoretically mean "I see that a country comprised great people" but feels pretty awkward); doesn't mean the same as (d)
d) this is the "problem usage"; some people may dislike it, but personally I think it is acceptable
e) correct
f) incorrect
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English 1b3a. The house comprises two bedrooms, one bathroom and a living room.That is correct only if those are the only rooms in the house.
English 1b3b. The house comprises of two bedrooms, one bathroom and a living room.Incorrect.
English 1b3c. I see a country comprised great people.
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Sorry, with (a) and (e) I was looking only at the grammatical use of "comprise" without thinking whether these were actually semantically sensible. Regarding (d), Oxford Dictionaries says that "is comprised of" is "part of standard English"
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/en
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/en
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The Shorter Oxford, fifth edition (2002), is at variance with that Oxford Dictionaries, not for the first time. They comment that "comprised of" is "often regarded with disfavour". They date it to the late nineteenth century, incidentally.
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