Resources
Lecciones de gramáticaLecturasEjercicios de listeningFlash cardsFalsos amigos¿Cuál usar?SufijosPrefijosDiscover your levelBlogIn charge ofvsResponsible for
'In charge of' indicates who directs or controls something; 'responsible for' indicates what someone is accountable for.
Side-by-side comparison
"In charge of" means you have authority or control over something or someone. You are the one making decisions in that area.
Who is in charge of the office while the manager is on holiday?
She was put in charge of the project after the original coordinator left.
The teacher in charge of the school trip made sure everyone arrived safely.
"Responsible for" means you have the duty to look after something or that you must answer for it. You can be responsible without having the final say.
Everyone on the team is responsible for checking their work before submitting it.
He felt responsible for the mistake because he had approved the final design.
The waiter was responsible for our table but forgot to take our order.
Common mistake
- •"Responsible of" is wrong: the English preposition is FOR.
- •"She is responsible FOR the project." Also: "in charge for" is wrong; the fixed preposition is OF.
- •"She is IN CHARGE OF the team." Key difference: "in charge of" = authority; "responsible for" = obligation or duty.
Trick to remember it
- •Does the person command or control something/someone? "In charge OF".
- •Does the person have an obligation or is the cause of something? "Responsible FOR".
- •Fixed prepositions: "in charge OF" (never "for"), "responsible FOR" (never "of").
Quick rule
- •"In charge OF" = authority/leadership (who is the boss).
- •"Responsible FOR" = obligation or duty.
- •Never: "in charge for" or "responsible of".
Did you know?
"In charge" and "responsible" both involve duty, but they take different prepositions: "in charge OF" and "responsible FOR". A reliable way to remember: you are in charge of people or things you lead, and responsible for outcomes you answer for. Mixing the prepositions ("responsible of", "in charge for") is one of the most common preposition slips in written English, even among advanced learners.
Practise what you learned
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
Who is _____ this project? I need to speak to the person running it.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
She is _____ the accident. She ran a red light.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Related word pairs
'According to' cites an external source; 'based on' indicates the evidence behind a claim.
'Have something done' and 'get something done' mean someone else does something for you; 'get' is more informal.
'A' is used before consonant sounds; 'an' is used before vowel sounds.
'A lot of' works for countable and uncountable; 'many' only for countable; 'much' only for uncountable.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy