Quote:
Originally Posted by YuriTokoro
Quote:
Originally Posted by Columbine
No, I wouldn't ever use self-dependent. The 'in' in 'independent' means 'self' in this context. 'Dependent' almost always refers to something ~other~ than yourself, so 'self-dependent' is confusing. If you want to say someone can rely on them-self and they don't need anyone or anything else, we use 'self-sufficient'.
EDIT: Oh, I didn't see some of the other posts. You could certainly also use 'self-reliant' as a synonym for 'self-sufficient' and 'independent'.  Use whichever you prefer, Yuri. |
I'm sorry!
I seem to be confused.
Which one should I use???? |
Hmm, "self-sufficient" never even occurred to me. Columbine is right that "self-reliant", "self-sufficient", and "independent" are synonyms. The corresponding nouns are "self-reliance", "self-sufficiency", and "independence". As Columbine said, use whatever you prefer.
I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but you might try using a thesaurus (a reference book of synonyms) in situations like this.
Merriam-Webster's online one appears to be fairly good.
What follows is just minor quibbling; if it confuses you, feel free to ignore it.
I do object to Columbine's earlier statement that "The 'in' in 'independent' means 'self' in this context." I understand what he is trying to say, but I still think it's a misleading thing to tell an English learner. The prefix "in-" here simply means "not"; "in-"
never means "self".
But Columbine is correct that the word "dependent" always implies a relationship to someone else or something else, and for that reason "self-dependent" sounds like it contradicts itself.