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Upon vs Dependent - What's the difference?

upon | dependent |

As a preposition upon

is being above and in contact with another.

As an adverb upon

is being the target of an action.

As an adjective dependent is

relying upon; depending upon.

As a noun dependent is

one who relies on another for support.

upon

English

Alternative forms

* vpon (obsolete)

Preposition

(English prepositions)
  • Being above and in contact with another.
  • :
  • *{{quote-book, year=1899, author=(Hughes Mearns)
  • , title= , passage=Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …}}
  • Being directly supported by another.
  • :
  • :
  • Being followed by another so as to form a series.
  • :
  • At a prescribed point in time.
  • :
  • .
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.}}
  • *
  • *:Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence.
  • Usage notes

    A somewhat elevated word; the simpler, more general term on is generally interchangeable, and more common in casual American speech. In poetic or legal contexts, upon is common.

    Synonyms

    * (all senses) on * (time) at

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Being the target of an action.
  • He was set upon by the agitated dogs
  • Incidental to a specified point in time or order of action; usually combined with here-, there- or where-.
  • The clock struck noon, whereupon the students proceeded to lunch.

    Derived terms

    * hereupon * thereupon * whereupon

    Statistics

    *

    dependent

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Relying upon; depending upon.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Joseph Stiglitz)
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=19, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Globalisation is about taxes too , passage=It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. […] It is the starving of the public sector which has been pivotal in America no longer being the land of opportunity – with a child's life prospects more dependent on the income and education of its parents than in other advanced countries.}}
  • Used in questions, negative sentences and after certain particles and prepositions.
  • (medicine) Affecting the lower part of the body, such as the legs while standing up, or the back while supine.
  • Hanging down.
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (US) One who relies on another for support
  • With two children and an ailing mother, she had three dependents in all ... (In British English, this meaning is spelt dependant.)
  • (grammar) An element in phrase or clause structure that is not the head. Includes complements, modifiers and determiners.
  • (grammar) The aorist subjunctive or subjunctive perfective: a form of a verb not used independently but preceded by a particle to form the negative or a tense form. Found in Greek and in the Gaelic languages.
  • Synonyms

    * dependant