to depend on
309
1.0
- phrasal verb
- /dɪˈpɛnd ɑn/
:
depender de
- We depend on each other.
- depend heavily on
- depend on the government for survival
- depend on the government
Sleep like your life depends on it and always drive alert.
- Sleep like your life depends on it and always drive alert.
- There are certain story types that really depend on shallow breaths.
- So that's one that is going to depend on you and your schedule.
- You know, I depend on that getting done.
- We have to depend on our own resources.
- They will always depend on me as in if they need me.
- Through that, throughout the entire process, I depend on multiple producers and suppliers.
- And you're the I've always depended on the kindness of strangers, right.
- So those people need to be encouraged because we depend on them for our services.
- Everyone is depending on me to make this work.
- They have their own fitness and they depend on reproduction to be prolonged.
Examples
-
The children depend on their parents for guidance and care.
-
The ultimate success of COA will depend in part on its cost advantages.
Academic text (1999) -
These people are depending on me to give 'em something amazing.
-
Well, it depends a lot on the situation.
-
This question depends a lot on the context.
-
We have to depend on our own resources.
-
People depend on me for those jokes.
-
Our lives, and the lives of the prisoners, may depend on it.
-
I can't stress enough how much your help could mean to the thousands of families that depend on us for medical care.
-
China's GDP growth depends mainly on consumption growth.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To require something because it is important
791
1.1
To trust someone or something to give you help
700
1.8
To trust a person or thing to do what you need
602
1.0
Trust a person or thing to do what you expect
352
1.0
To rely on a person or thing for help
133
3.1
To rely on someone for help or advice
77
3.9
Rely on someone, a job, or savings for the food and money you need
58
3.7
To depend on something like an idea or reason
33
2.3
Trust someone or something to do what you need
8
2.5
To trust a person or thing to give support
How Dependent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to be determined or influenced by' is directly derived from combining 'depend' (to rely or place confidence in) with the preposition 'on' that marks the thing relied upon or conditioned by. This compositional pattern is common and cross-linguistically regular, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will very likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Depend on comes from the simple image of leaning: to depend is to put your weight on something for support, like leaning on a friend or a cane, so the phrase came to mean 'rely on' or need someone or something for help or survival.