ToBE #33: Are you dependable?

During the course of a conversation with a colleague and as heard on an FM Radio station, I gathered that there seemed to be an interesting interpretation to the word “dependable”.

Dependable: can be relied upon.

• Lina is a dependable person. => One can rely on Lina to get the job done.
• Dravid is a dependable middle-order batsman. => Dravid can be relied upon.

Quite a few people seem to have confused “dependable” with:

Dependent: relies upon; not independent.

• The whole family was dependent on Sunil for food. => The whole family looks forward to Sunil for providing food.
• Is he financially dependent on you?

As per the above meanings and example, note that ‘dependable’ and ‘dependent’ have diverse meanings and are not to be interchanged.

Do remember that ‘depending’ and ‘dependent’ are almost always followed by ‘on’ or ‘upon’.

• I am totally dependent on him for this week’s accommodation.
• She was depending on her husband for support.