depend

American  

[dih-pend] / dɪˈpɛnd /

verb (used without object)

• depends,
  present (3rd person singular)
• depended,
  past participle,  past
• depending
  present participle

1. to rely; place trust (usually followed by on orupon ).

   You may depend on the accuracy of the report.

2. to rely for support, maintenance, help, etc. (usually followed by on orupon ).

   Children depend on their parents.

3. to be conditioned or contingent (usually followed by on orupon ).

   His success here depends upon effort and ability.

4. to be undetermined or pending.

   I may go to Europe or I may not, it all depends.

5. Grammar. (of a word or other linguistic form) to be subordinate to another linguistic form in the same construction; to form a part of a construction other than the head.

6. to hang down; be suspended (usually followed byfrom ).

   The chandelier depends from the ceiling of the ballroom.

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depend British  

/ dɪˈpɛnd /

verb

1. to put trust (in); rely (on); be sure (of)

2. to be influenced or determined (by); be resultant (from)

   whether you come or not depends on what father says

   it all depends on you

3. to rely (on) for income, support, etc

4. rare (foll by from) to hang down; be suspended

5. to be undecided or pending

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interdepend
  verb (used without object)
• redepend
  verb (used without object)
• self-depending
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• depending
  present
• depended
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• depend
  simple
• depends
  simple
• have depended
  perfect
• has depended
  perfect
• am depending
  progressive
• are depending
  progressive
• is depending
  progressive
• have been depending
  perfect progressive
• has been depending
  perfect progressive

Past

• depended
  simple
• had depended
  perfect
• was depending
  progressive
• were depending
  progressive
• had been depending
  perfect progressive

Future

• will depend
  simple
• will have depended
  perfect
• will be depending
  progressive
• will have been depending
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of depend

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English dependen, from Old French dependre, from Latin dēpendere “to hang down,” from dē- de- + pendere “to hang”

Explanation

To depend is to have confidence in something or someone. You can depend on your most loyal friend to show up for your modern dance performance in the park (although you probably can't depend on her liking it). Depend can also mean "determined by or contingent on something else." For example, if rain is in the forecast, your outdoor dance performance may be cancelled; it depends on the weather. Depend is almost always followed by the word on or upon, with upon being more formal. If you're speaking informally, you may drop the on or upon, as in "It all depends how you feel." Your decision to do that will, of course, depend upon your audience.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

depend depends depended depending

The researchers emphasize that effective treatment may depend not only on which immune cells are targeted, but also on when they are targeted.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026

But the future of a popular crypto-based futures product will depend on the courts.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

Alternative assets depend less on stock and bond moves, they say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

But its future may ultimately depend on whether its users can trust it.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

The transposition you choose will depend on why you are transposing.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

But that’s no guarantee and it depends where people live, experts said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026

The biggest pressures come from farming, which can destroy the habitats wildlife depends on, and burning fossil fuels for energy, which drives climate change.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

"When we hear an air‑raid alert, I pray to God -- and to our air defence, because the life of our city depends on them," he said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

But what if you happen to be partnered with the person making the sound, stuck in a room with him for hours on end like your very livelihood depends on it?

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

“That depends, Henry, on who writes the history.”

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

According to Harris, Boulder’s “entire thesis” depended on the idea that the “mere fact of having injuries” empowered it to regulate “worldwide conduct.”

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026

"In other words, the physical survival of these cities depended on these companies," he told the BBC.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Slasher movies have always depended on a memorable killer, and the genre has produced some of horror’s most instantly recognizable figures.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

The finding supports the picture of T. rex as an active predator or scavenger with a relatively fast metabolism rather than a sluggish animal that depended heavily on basking in the sun.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Naturally, as the success of my experiment depended on getting her to talk, I couldn’t talk much myself.

From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller

The results showed a clear difference depending on when the mice received olive oil.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

The grace period could be adjusted depending on the "success or failure" of those efforts, the department added.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

Students and graduates across the UK have different student loan plans depending on when and where they studied.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

But he was also a mop, or a Vermeer, or a green onion, depending on whom you asked.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

The repercussion track was different every time, depending on how badly you’d screwed up, and really, as my mom liked to point out, it was just a bunch of guesswork.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Related Words

• hinge on
• rest on
• revolve around