Doctrine supports aggregates and composites. When binding composites you can use methods Doctrine_Table::ownsOne() and Doctrine_Table::ownsMany(). When binding aggregates you can use methods Doctrine_Table::hasOne() and Doctrine_Table::hasMany(). <br \><br \> In Doctrine if you bind an Email to a User using ownsOne or ownsMany methods, everytime User record calls save or delete the associated Email record is also saved/deleted. <br \><br \> Then again if you bind an Email to a User using hasOne or hasMany methods, everytime User record calls save or delete the associated Email record is NOT saved/deleted.