rely
part of speech
verb (rely, relies, relied, relying) — used with «on» or «upon»
meaning for a pupil
1) To rely on someone means to trust them to help you or do what they say. tree →
2) To rely on something means to need it to work or to live, like plants rely on sunlight. tree →
3) If you can rely on something happening, you can be sure it will happen. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science, living things rely on each other in food chains, and plants rely on sun, water and air. In friendship and feelings lessons, a good friend is someone you can rely on. In maths and reasoning, «relying on a guess» is risky; it is better to check. Phrases: «rely on», «can rely on», «rely on each other», «you can't rely on».
examples
- You can always rely on me to help. tree →
- Plants rely on sunlight to make food. tree →
- We rely on the bus to get to school. tree →
- Bees rely on flowers for food. tree →
- Don't rely on your memory; write it down. tree →
- The team relies on its goalkeeper. tree →
- Animals in the food chain rely on each other. tree →
- You can't rely on the weather in spring. tree →
- The Prince heard her words without anxiety, so entirely did he rely on the help of his black friend. tree →
note
Always followed by «on» or «upon»: «rely on someone». Forms: «relies» (y → ie), «relied», «relying». Adjective: «reliable» (can be trusted); noun: «reliance». Opposite feeling: «unreliable».
In the corpora
- Dolphins rely on sound to hunt and to talk, so loud noise can hurt or confuse them.
- Bullies rely on silence, so telling a trusted adult is the way to stop it.
- Keeping promises, even small ones, is how people learn they can rely on you.
- Keeping small promises is how people learn they can rely on you.
- Games rely on players being honest about what happened, like being tagged.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «rely» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.