In Clearcase to make a file version controlled the user has to use mkelem and checkin commands. Once a file is version
controlled it will be owned by Clearcase and for any further modifications to a version controlled file user has to check it out
(using checkout) make the modifications and check it in (using checkin command).
In git a file (say) can be version controlled by using add and commit commands. The user need not do anything similar to Clearcase checkout to modify the file. Once the file is modified it needs to be added (using add) and committed (using commit) to create a newer version of the file.