Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary
Rely vs. Depend
Hi,
I came across the following sentence today: "The outcome of the class relies on ....".
Everywhere I looked this up seemed to say that rely and depend can be used interchangeably, but I feel that is incorrect.
It seems to me that only a person can rely on something, that is to say, an outcome can depend on something but cannot rely on anything.
Is that correct?
Appreciate your help,
Yoav.
I came across the following sentence today: "The outcome of the class relies on ....".
Everywhere I looked this up seemed to say that rely and depend can be used interchangeably, but I feel that is incorrect.
It seems to me that only a person can rely on something, that is to say, an outcome can depend on something but cannot rely on anything.
Is that correct?
Appreciate your help,
Yoav.
Top answer
I agree, Yoav. 'Rely' sounds odd there.
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Thanks. I was hoping my "ear" was not deceiving me...
I spoke to a native english speaking friend of mine who also feels that rely does not work well in this case.
Feeling better now
I spoke to a native english speaking friend of mine who also feels that rely does not work well in this case.
Feeling better now
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