newbie question regarding forms and drop down list

I am pretty new to php, so if I am asking a poor question, please forgive me. I have a few input forms using html and php that will take input from text boxes and then put that input into a MySql database. All of the information for the form is put in between a <form method> element. When I try to add code for a drop donw inside the <form method> element, the code doesn't work, and I get a parse error. The code will work outside the element. I assume I am just missing something dumb. Could someone please enlighten me. I can post my code if it will help. Thanks, Max Krone