depend
verbWord Originlate Middle English originally meaning ‘to hang down’; (also in the sense ‘wait or be in suspense’): from Old French dependre, from Latin dependere, from de- ‘down’ + pendere ‘hang’.
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbspresent simple I / you / we / they depend | |
he / she / it depends | |
past simple depended | |
past participle depended | |
-ing form depending |
Idioms
depending on
that depends | it (all) depends
used to say that you are not certain about something because other things have to be considered 那得看情况 ‘Is he coming?’ ‘That depends. He may not have the time.’ “他来吗?” “那要看情况。他不一定有时间。” I don't know if we can help—it all depends. 我不知道我们能不能帮上忙,一切都得看情况而定。 I might not go. It depends how tired I am. 我不一定去。这要看我累不累。 ‘Your job sounds fun.’ ‘It depends what you mean by “fun”.’ “你的工作听起来很有乐趣。” “这就要看你说的 '乐趣' 是什么意思了。” I shouldn't be too late. But it depends if the traffic's bad. 我应该不会太迟。不过这取决于交通是否拥挤了。