Confusing words: Part, a part, apart

Here’s another English-language vocabulary post, inspired by something that came up in a recent conversation with a student. This time I’ll be doing a short explainer on the differences between these deceptively similar words:

• part
• a part
• apart

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PART vs A PART

The word ‘part’ can be used as a verb (do look up its meanings), but here we’re interested in the noun. First, it can be uncountable, meaning ‘some but not all of a thing’. It’s important to remember that this ‘part’ is an inseparable piece of the whole:

Part of my homework was very difficult.

Part of the problem is that you aren’t studying hard enough.

Stress is just part of the job.

If used as a countable noun – with the indefinite article ‘a’ when used in the singular – the meaning is not quite the same: ‘a part’ is a separate or separable part of a larger whole. 

Sometimes this difference in meaning is really not that important at all, but using ‘a part’ will simply put more emphasis on that individual element:

The chip is a part of the mobile phone. [It’s an individual piece, removable and separable from the rest of the phone as a whole.]

Bad team work played a part in my decision to quit my job. [Implying there were also other reasons, entirely separate from this specific one.]

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APART

Now, unlike the difference between ‘part’ and ‘a part’ which is quite small, you need to be careful with ‘apart.’ This word can be an adverb meaning ‘at a little distance’ (in either time or space), or an adjective meaning ‘separated, divided.’

He was standing apart from us. [at a small distance]

Our houses are 2 kilometers apart. [away from each other]

‘Apart’ has additional meanings, which you can check out by clicking on the links found below.

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Difference between part and apart (a StackExchange forum)

Apart (entry in the MerriamWebster Dictionary)

Apart vs. a Part: What’s the Difference? (a QuillBot article)

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NOTES