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Ask for help > consist in,of or on????
consist in,of or on????
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jana&lino
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consist in,of or on????
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I always have doubts with this verb.I think that consist of refers to the composition of something;consist in=when we deal with a definition,and consist on?????
I need some help,please!!!!
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1 Jun 2010
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Lina Ladybird
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The job of a bus driver mainly consists in driving a bus. ;))
---> "Consists in" is followed by a verb / gerund.
Our raspberry ice-cream mainly consists of milk, cream, sugar and fresh fruit.
---> "Consists of" is followed by a noun.
I think the expression "consist on" doesn�t exist.
I hope I got it right... If not, tell me, please!! :))))
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1 Jun 2010
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fifey
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Actually we would use it as � consists of �. For example: The board consists of many experienced people. Hope this helps. I can see the confusion, but my mother tongue is English.
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1 Jun 2010
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Lina Ladybird
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I �ve just found 2 threads which might be of some help:
And here�s another link:
It seems that my explanation of the expression "consist in" was only partly correct! ;))
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1 Jun 2010
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fifey
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I think consists in driving a bus is fine, but we would always look for the better solution. We probably would say, �The main job of a bus driver is to drive the bus �. This just simplifies things, and makes he language much more understandable. Why use more expressions to get to the same point? We can make English to complex sometimes.
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1 Jun 2010
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Lina Ladybird
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Why use more expressions to get to the same point?
When I speak English or any other foreign language, I simply like to be flexible and therefore capable of expressing certain things in different ways.
Imagine writing a text in which you would have to use the expressions "consists of" or "consists in" repeatedly, because you�re not able to say anything else. I would hate that...
IMHO, it �s not a disadvantage to have a large word pool to choose from - on the contrary!! ;)
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1 Jun 2010
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fifey
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When you have a large pool of words at your fingertips you can afford to simplify things. I do think that vocabulary expansion is vital, but i also think that being clearly understood is as important, if not more than. I suppose as a native English speaker i just speak as we would normally do things, but then it is always open to interpretation. That �s what makes language flexible, the ability to have the confidence to simplify things.
When writing text, it is vital not to repeat as it becomes boring. It would also be marked down as not being able to have a better use of language.
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1 Jun 2010
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lshorton99
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I don �t think I �ve ever used �consists in � - �consists of � would be the only one I �d use. That �s not saying that you can �t say it - I think sometimes native speakers know less about their own language than non-native speakers (when I started my CELTA years ago, I didn �t even know we had a present perfect - all my knowledge of grammar came from studying Spanish!!!!!!)
Lindsey
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2 Jun 2010
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