I agree. I think of "consists of" as expressing exclusivity. Cheers Nick From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kath Bowman Sent: Friday, 16 March 2012 1:29 PM To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: atw: Re: Usage survey: the expression "consists of" I agree with Michael. It implies that this represents the entire therapy. Cheers Kath From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Geoffrey Sent: Friday, 16 March 2012 1:47 PM To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: atw: Usage survey: the expression "consists of" Hi austechies Can I get your feedback on how you interpret the expression "consists of" or "consisted of". In the following example: "Drug therapy consisted of 0.25 mg of digoxin per day and 40 mg of propranolol twice a day." do you read that as saying that the entire therapy included just digoxin and propranolol and nothing else? Or do you read it as saying that the therapy included digoxin and propranolol and possibly something else? Don't worry about what might or might not be correct (whatever that means). The issue is how you interpret "consisted of": as giving the full set of items or a sub-set of items. Cheers Geoffrey Marnell Principal Consultant Abelard Consulting Pty Ltd P: 03 9596 3456 M: 0419 574 668 F: 03 9596 3625 W: www.abelard.com.au<http://www.abelard.com.au/>