Consist and constitute

Question

Hi,
I am just wondering if i could use these two verb including others such as compose, comprise interchangeably.
In my dictionary, it seems that constitute is used as a transitive verb, so I should say," The earth constitutes seven major continents."?

Instead of saying " The earth is constituted of seven major continents."?

Is it okay to say," The earth consists of seven major continents."?

thanks,

Makka2802 · Accepted Answer

It might be wise to use 'compose' instead of 'comprise' in an English exam, because some people believe they are not interchangeable. However most English-speakers will not see a difference and to me: "a deck of cards is composed of 52 cards" and "a deck of cards is comprised of 52 cards" both sound perfectly fine.

clee62" The earth constitutes seven major continents."

'Constitutes' is a verb for all the elements that make something. For example, "52 cards (one of each suit and value) constitutes a deck". So your example sentence is not right. 'Consists' could be seen as the reverse of 'constitutes': "a deck consists of 52 cards".

It is important to note that 'consists' and 'constitutes' involves all elements that make the thing, and Earth is made up of earth, water, a molten core, etc etc, not seven continents. You could perhaps make Earth's landmasses the subject however, i.e. "Earth's islands consist of seven continents and multiple smaller islands" or "seven continents and multiple smaller islands constitute Earth's islands". For simplicity however, "Earth has seven continents" is even better.

I hope this made sense =)

Consist and constitute

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