Combinations and Permutations What's the Difference? In English we use the word "combination" loosely, without thinking if the order of things is important. In other words: "My fruit salad is a combination of apples, grapes and bananas" We don't care what order the fruits are in, they could also be "bananas, grapes and apples" or "grapes, apples and bananas", its the same fruit salad. "The combina