In this weekly microblog, we bring to English language learners more useful content from the Macmillan Dictionary. These tips are based on areas of English (e.g. spelling, grammar, collocation, synonyms, etc) which learners often find difficult.
This week’s language tip helps with the word dependent.
The usual preposition to use with dependent is on, not of:
✗ Women in those times were totallydependent oftheir husbands.
✓ Women in those times were totally dependent on their husbands.
✗ The organization of a society is largelydependent ofits economic system.
✓ The organization of a society is largely dependent on its economic system.
You can also use the preposition upon, but this is much less frequent than on, and it sounds very formal.
Don’t confuse dependent (an adjective) and dependant (a noun).
✗ society’s stereotypes of women as weak, passive anddependantindividuals
✓ society’s stereotypes of women as weak, passive and dependent individuals
A dependant is someone, such as a child or older person, who depends on their relatives for care, food etc:
special allowances for women who have to give up work to look after elderly dependants
More language tips
Browse the list under the ‘language tips‘ tag here on the blog for more useful language tips.
Would you like to improve your vocabulary? Follow our daily tweets @MacLearnEnglish or visit our Learn English Facebook Page.
Email this Post
