Difficult words

consist, comprise, constitute, or compose

To consist of something is to be made up of it: The programme consisted of two short plays. To comprise something has the same meaning, often implying that the whole is regarded from the point of view of its individual parts: The programme comprises two short plays (they were chosen to make it up). To constitute something is to form a whole, especially of dissimilar components: Wealth and health do not necessarily constitute happiness. To compose means the same, but implies that the components have something in common: Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen. A common mistake is to confuse consist and comprise, saying, for example: The programme is comprised of two short plays. 

comprise make up something constitute be composed of somebody/something

These words all mean to be formed from the things or people mentioned, or to be the parts that form something.

• consist of somebody/something to be formed from the things, people or activities mentioned: Their diet consists largely of vegetables.
• comprise (rather formal) to be formed from the things or people mentioned:  The collection comprises 327 paintings. Comprise can also be used to refer to the parts or members of something: Older people comprise a large proportion of those living in poverty. However, this is less frequent.
• make up something (rather informal) to be the parts or people that form something: Women make up 56% of the student numbers.
• constitute to be the parts or people that form something: People under the age of 40 constitute the majority of the labour force.
• be composed of somebody/something (rather formal) to be formed from the things or people mentioned:Around 15% of our diet is composed of protein.

which word?

• Consist of somebody/something is the most general of these words and the only one that can be used for activities with the -ing form of a verb:My work at that time just consisted of typing letters. The other main difference is between those verbs that take the whole as the subject and the parts as the object: The group consists of/comprises/is made up of/is composed of ten people. and those that take the parts as the subject and the whole as the object: Ten people make up/constitute/comprise the group. It is not correct to use ‘comprises of’ or ‘is composed by/from’.