 It’s doubtful whether the distinction between properties and relations can be given in terms that do not ultimately presuppose it—the distinction is so basic. Nevertheless, there are elucidations on offer that may help us better appreciate the distinction. Properties merely hold of the things that have them, whereas relations aren’t relations of anything, but hold between things, or, alternatively, relations are borne by one thing to other things, or, another alternative paraphrase, relations have a subject of inherence whose relations they are and termini to which they relate the subject. More examples may help too. When we say that a thing \(A\) is black, or \(A\) is long, then we are asserting that there is some property \(A\) has. But when we say that \(A\) is (wholly) inside \(B\) then we are asserting that there is a relation in which \(A\) stands to \(B\).