to depend upon
8
2.5
- phrasal verb
- /dɪˈpɛnd əˈpɒn/
:
contar con
- Can I depend upon you?
My poor dad depended upon his pension until he lost it.
- My poor dad depended upon his pension until he lost it.
- And we evolved to live with them, to exploit them, and to crucially depend upon them to the state.
Examples
-
Our mentor program does not depend upon major financial resources.
Academic text (1992) -
We depend upon you.
-
- You can depend upon it.
-
You can depend upon me, sir.
-
I knew I could depend upon your loyalty.
-
The other three chairs in the hold depend upon you, my friend.
-
My job would be so much easier if I didn't have to depend upon others to do it.
Blog text (23) -
I depend upon you.
-
Jason's depending upon you.
-
You can depend upon me whenever you need help.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To believe someone will do what they say
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
309
1.0
Need help or support from something to live
33
2.3
Trust someone or something to do what you need
Antonyms
How Trusting
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to be determined or influenced by' is directly built from 'depend' (to rely or be contingent) combined with the preposition 'upon' (on/based on), so a learner who knows both words can compose the sense. This verb + preposition construction is a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern and therefore immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
Depend upon paints a clear picture: one person leaning on another for support, with depend as the leaning action and upon showing who gives the support. So when you depend upon someone, you 'trust' or 'rely on' them.