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Old 03-Feb-2007, 14:54
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Default trust

Hi,
I would like to know if these expressions sush as 'trust','depend on', 'rely on' and 'count on' can be interchangeable in the following sentences. I mean if 'depend on', 'rely on,' and 'count on' can be used instead of 'trust' here.

1.You can trust/depend on/rely on/count on Jane, she always keeps her promises.

2.You can't trust/depend on/rely on/count on the trains to run on time.

3.Can we trust/depend on/rely on/count on these statistics?

Thanks.
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Old 03-Feb-2007, 17:22
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Default Re: trust

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Originally Posted by thru View Post
Hi,
I would like to know if these expressions sush as 'trust','depend on', 'rely on' and 'count on' can be interchangeable in the following sentences. I mean if 'depend on', 'rely on,' and 'count on' can be used instead of 'trust' here.

1.You can trust/depend on/rely on/count on Jane, she always keeps her promises.

2.You can't trust/depend on/rely on/count on the trains to run on time.

3.Can we trust/depend on/rely on/count on these statistics?

Thanks.
1 They all work. Some are more likely in some contexts - such as 'I knew I could rely on you to poke your nose into someone else's business'. ('Rely on' often goes with sarcasm.) But in your context, to my ear, they're interchangeable.

2 They're all fine.

3 Here I'd expect only 'trust' and 'rely on'; 'depend on' would be OK too, but only if your context was extended a bit: Can we depend on these statistics for an up-to-date indication of the way things really are?

b
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Old 03-Feb-2007, 17:56
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Default Re: trust

Hi,
Thank you BobK for your comment. I have some more questions about these expressions:

1.We depend on/rely on/count on donations from the public.

2.I'm depending on/relying on/counting on you to tell me everything.

3.They have to rely on/depend on/count on the river for their
water.

Are they all fine to use here? Thank you very much.
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Old 04-Feb-2007, 10:54
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Default Re: trust

Quote:
Originally Posted by thru View Post
Hi,
Thank you BobK for your comment. I have some more questions about these expressions:

1.We depend on/rely on/count on donations from the public.

2.I'm depending on/relying on/counting on you to tell me everything.

3.They have to rely on/depend on/count on the river for their
water.

Are they all fine to use here? Thank you very much.
All fine, except 'count on' in 3. Their meanings aren't always interchangeable. For example, in 1:

depend on = that is a crucial source of income
rely on = we rely on it, and want you to make a donation now
count on = we rely on it, and expect you to make a donation now

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