# EN: consist in/of



## nhat

Hi everybody
Is _consist in_ common?

The mesure _consists in_ selecting people who want to immigrate to the US so as to dismiss thoses who would be prone to anti social behaviours

*Moderator note: *multiple threads merged to create this one


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## belf

Here is the definition from the Collins :

Something that *consists in* something else has that thing as its main or only part.
_His work as a consultant consisted in advising foreign companies on the siting of new factories._

And here from the Longman :

consist in something : phrasal verb
to be based on or depend on something:
_Happiness does not consist in how many possessions you own._

consist of something : phrasal verb
to be formed from two or more things or people:
_The buffet consisted of several different Indian dishes._

I'm not a native speaker, but I think it should be ok to use it. And if you search "consist in" in google, you will find 1,170,000 occurrences for it, so I think it's really common.


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## geostan

nhat said:


> Hi everybody
> Is consist in common?
> The mesure consists in selecting people who want to immigrate to the US so as to dismiss thoses who would be prone to anti social behaviours



When using a gerund after the phrase, I would say consist in. With nouns, I would use consist of. That's rather simplistic, I know, but this is a hurried answer.

Cheers!


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## shoenning

"Consist in" is definitely common. Use "consist of" before a noun.


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## Michmuch

I'm a frenchman and I would like to know if "the solution consist in an homogeneous mixture" is right and if "the solution consist of homogeneousmixture" is correct too. I found the second in a paper wrote by a colleague for english/american people and I remember my english lessons with "consist always follow by in".
Thank you for your help.


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## WordRef1

Si je comprends correctement, je dirais "the solution consists of a homogeneous mixture of...". N'oubliez pas, si le sujet est troisième personne du singulier, il faut généralement mettre un s (au contraire du logique). Alors, "consists".


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## Keith Bradford

Je dirais :
consist in [verb + ing]
consist of [noun]

But I wouldn't criticise either option.


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## WordRef1

Keith Bradford said:


> Je dirais :
> consist in [verb + ing]
> consist of [noun]
> 
> But I wouldn't criticise either option.


I'm not sure how that would be used without an example, but in this case, "consist" is a verb.


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## Keith Bradford

Yes, but what follows it?

In this case, the sentence is "the solution consists [in/of?] *an homogeneous mixture*" (i.e. a noun). So I would recommend "_consists of..."_
On the other hand, the same idea might have been expressed as: "the solution consists *in creating *homogenous mixtures..." (i.e. a verb) There I would use "_in_".

But I wouldn't put my hand in the fire over either.


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## Daddylars

I agree with your analysis, but generally speaking it seems to me that "consists in", as opposed to "consists of" is not widely used and perhaps one would more naturally use an alternative such as "involves" or something similar.


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## Embu

Hello,

I would like to translate this sentence in english but I'm not sure.

"La tradition du dot *consiste*, pour la famille de la mariée, à donner un dot à la famille du mari."


The problem takes place in the verb placement:


> "The dowry tradition *consists in*, to the bride's family, *to give* a present to the groom's family".




I'm not sure because I was told that the verb "consist in" was followed by a gerondif (ing). So I must use "giving" but I don't know if it sounds english to put it at the end of the sentence, like that: 


> "The dowry tradition *consists in*, to the bride's family, *giving* a present to the groom's family".




Or is it like this?


> "The dowry tradition *consists in giving*, to the bride's family, a present to the groom's family".




Thank you for your time.


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## player107

I would say : The dowry tradition *consists in giving* FROM the bride's family a present to the groom's family.


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## Omelette

To keep as close as possible to your sentence.
'The dowry tradition consists of/in  the bride's family..'


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## leelya

Alors en cherchant sur le net, je suis tombée sur cette phrase dont on pourra sans doute s'inspirer :
"Another Amish family _*tradition consists*_ of the bride's grandmother piecing together a quilt (...)" ( voici le lien, http://www.amishmennonitequilts.com/giving2.html )
Pour ta phrase, je proposerais donc :
The dowry tradition *consits of *the bride's family *giving *a present to the groom's family.


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## Embu

J'ai retenu celle-ci : 


> The dowry tradition *consits of the bride's family giving a present to the groom's family.
> *




Est-ce que ça aurait changé grand chose si j'avais choisi *in *à la place de *of *?


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## misterk

From dictionary.com. here is an explanation of the different uses of "consist of" and "consist in":
1. to be made up or composed (usually followed by of): _This cake consists mainly of sugar, flour, and butter._

2. to be comprised or contained (usually followed by in): _Her charm does not consist only in her __beauty.
_
In your sentence, AE speakers would more naturally say "consist of".


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## Omelette

'Consists of'  feels more natural in British English, too. Though I wouldn't count 'consists in' as being an obvious mistake.


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## Embu

So thank you for your help.


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