Consist,compriseandcomposeare all verbs used to describe what something is ‘made of’. We don’t use them in continuous forms.
Consist
Their diet onlyconsisted offruit and seeds.
The whole groupconsists ofstudents.
We only use the active form ofconsist of:
Their flatconsists oftwo bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom.
Not:Their flat is consisted of two bedrooms…
Comprise
Compriseis more formal thanconsist:
The USAcomprises50 states.
We can also use it in the passive voicein the form ‘be comprised of’:
The courseis comprised often lectures and five seminars on the theory of economics and banking.
Comprise, but notcompose, can be used with the parts that make up something as the subject:
Oil and coalcomprise70% of the nation’s exports.
Compose ofis even more formal thanconsist ofandcomprise.Compose ofis onlyused in the passive voice:
Muscleis composed ofdifferent types of protein.
Typical errors
We don’t useconsist, compriseandcomposein a continuous form:
The whole groupconsists ofstudents.
Not:The whole group is consisting of students.