Differentiating between apart vs a part can be tricky since they sound more or less the same when you’re speaking. However, it’s important to know the difference when you are writing since apart and a part mean different things and have distinct grammatical usage.
So, let’s talk about the difference between these easily confused words and give you the confidence you need to choose the right one. You’ll see a few examples of each, and you’ll find an explanation of commonly used phrases like ‘apart from’ and ‘fall apart’.
It’s very easy to get these phrases mixed up, so don’t feel bad about being confused! The English language is full of expressions that sound the same but have completely different meanings, so you’re not alone if you find these terms difficult.
What’s the difference between apart vs a part?
When you are speaking, it is almost impossible to tell the difference between a part or apart. You might hear a slight pause when saying ‘a part’, but only if you’re speaking rather slowly.
So, the main difference between a part vs apart is in the grammar and meaning when you are writing. This is similar to other confusing pairs that can be written as one or two words, such as awhile and a while or any more and anymore.
In order to know which to use when, you’ll first need to know whether you are using an adjective or adverb, or a noun phrase. That said, it does also help that these words have almost opposite meanings. One refers to inclusion and the other refers to distance or separation.
So, let’s take a proper look at the grammar surrounding apart and a part.
Apart is an adjective or adverb
Adjectives and adverbs are modifiers, meaning that they add information about other words in a sentence.
‘Apart‘ has a few different meanings. The most common are ‘at a distance‘, ‘into pieces‘, and ‘separated‘.
For example:
- These children need to be kept apart.
- The blanket was ripped apart during the tug-of-war game.
- My best friend and I live 200 miles apart.
- Keep your feet apart as you do a squat.
- My husband and I have never been apart this long.
- My father loves to take things apart, but he rarely puts them back together correctly.
- Our tastes in music couldn’t be further apart!
‘Apart’ can also be used as an adjective to mean ‘having unique characteristics’ or ‘physically remote’. This is a much less common usage of the word, and it’s usually only found in phrases like ‘a world apart’ or ‘a class apart’.
So, if you need to describe distance or separation, you should use ‘apart’ as an adjective or adverb.
A part is a noun phrase
A noun phrase is just a word or group of words that function as the subject or object in a sentence.
Use the noun phrase ‘a part’ when you mean a piece, component, or section of something or a fraction of a larger group. The article ‘a’ combined with the noun ‘part’ makes it a noun phrase.
For example:
- A prologue is a part of a book.
- What do I have to do to be a part of this group?
- My father dismantled the TV and he lost a part.
- Writing is a part of my job.
- The song has a part that is very quiet.
The phrase ‘a part of’ can also be shortened to ‘part of’. For example, “Writing is part of my job” and “What do I have to do to be part of this group?” are both grammatically correct sentences.
Apart from
‘Apart from’ is a prepositional phrase meaning ‘except for’. Use this when making an exception or excluding something.
Most prepositional phrases begin with a preposition, but in this case, the preposition ‘from’ comes at the end.
Here are some example sentences using ‘apart from’:
- The meal was fantastic apart from the bad service.
- Apart from it being rainy, it was a nice vacation.
- I love everything about the beach apart from the sand.
We should mention that the phrase ‘a part from’ is also valid, but only when ‘a part’ is functioning as a noun phrase, as in “I took a part from the box of spare parts.”
One way to know that you are using ‘apart from’ correctly is to see if you can move the clause containing the prepositional phrase to the beginning of the sentence. In our first example, we can also say:
“Apart from the bad service, the meal was fantastic.”
You should also be able to swap ‘apart from’ with ‘except for’, ‘besides’, or ‘aside from’ and the sentence will still make sense.
Keeping the same example, we could say:
“The meal was fantastic except for the bad service.”
“Besides the bad service, the meal was fantastic.”
See also: Besides vs beside
Using apart vs a part in a sentence
There are some phrases using apart or a part that can cause particular confusion when trying to write grammatically correct sentences. Let’s take a closer look at some of these now.
Is it apart of or a part of?
It is always correct to say ‘a part of’ rather than ‘apart of’.
For example, “I am a part of the team.” is correct. You would not say “I am apart of the team,” because we use ‘apart’ to mean separated or distant from.
Far apart or a part?
It’s correct to say ‘far apart’ since you are talking about distance or separation.
The comparative form of this phrase can cause confusion because you can use further apart or farther apart, depending on the context.
Apart vs a part of my life
It’s correct to say ‘a part of my life’ because you are talking about something or someone (a fraction) being included in your life (the whole).
For example: “You will always be a part of my life.”
To be apart vs be a part
Both ‘be apart’ and ‘be a part’ are correct, depending on the context.
You would use ‘be a part’ if you were referring to being included in something. For example, you can say, “I would like to be a part of the chess league.”
Also, the phrase ‘be a part’ will usually be followed by ‘of’ since you are mentioning the thing in which the subject is being included.
A proper way to use ‘be apart’ would be when you are talking about being away or separated from something or someone. It would be correct to say “I don’t like to be apart from my kids for a long time.”
Fall apart vs fall a part
In this case, it is always correct to say ‘fall apart’ since this phrase refers to something breaking into pieces or turning into disarray. You would say, “The puzzle fell apart when it got knocked off the table.”
This phrase can also be used to mean that someone lost control of their emotions. For example, “When I realized I didn’t get the job I wanted, I fell apart.”
Hopefully, these explanations and examples have made it clear to you when to use apart or a part. You’ve also learned some common phrases that have apart and a part in them.
After reading through this you should be able to confidently write using a part vs apart without any confusion. If you are still a little unsure of which you should use, you can always come back here and reread this article to clear up any misunderstandings.
Sometimes, learning phrases that sound exactly the same but have different meanings can be confusing – but the more that you practice writing with them, the better you’ll get at it!
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