I'm responsible for, not “responsible of”: talk about your job

The rule

Say I'm responsible for + a noun or -ing (responsible for sales, responsible for training new staff) and I'm in charge of + a noun. For your job, say I work as an engineer; for the company, I work for or at a bank.

French responsable de and Arabic مسؤول عن lead to responsible of. And Arabic مثل covers both like and as, so learners say I work like an engineer, which means you only act like one.

Examples

In a conversation

A: So, what do you do?

B: I work as an engineer for a water company.

A: Interesting! What are you responsible for?

B: I'm in charge of a small team, and we're responsible for testing the water.

Practice

Choose the best answer. The answers are at the end of the lesson.

1. I'm responsible ___ customer complaints.
   • a) of
   • b) for
   • c) about
2. My sister works ___ a nurse.
   • a) as
   • b) like
   • c) for
3. Omar is in charge ___ the new project.
   • a) for
   • b) with
   • c) of

Tip

Use work for with the employer and work at with the place: I work for a bank, I work at the head office. With a company name, both are fine.

Answers

1. b) for. We say responsible for, not of.
2. a) as. Use work as with a job.
3. c) of. In charge takes of.

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