ESEN
Which one to use?Intermediateprepositionpreposition
In 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
preposition"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
preposition"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?
"Responsible of" is one of the most documented preposition errors in the written English of Spanish speakers, even at advanced levels (C1-C2). The reason is clear: "responsable de" in Spanish automatically triggers "responsible of" in the learner's mind before there is time to apply the conscious rule. Fascinatingly, this error appears with high frequency even in official documents, academic texts, and professional translations produced by speakers with decades of experience. Language acquisition researchers use it as a classic example of persistent negative transfer, because it demonstrates that even very high proficiency does not always erase patterns learned in the early years of study.
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 tovsBased on
'According to' cites an external source; 'based on' indicates the evidence behind a claim.
Have something donevsGet something done
'Have something done' and 'get something done' mean someone else does something for you; 'get' is more informal.
AvsAn
'A' is used before consonant sounds; 'an' is used before vowel sounds.
A lot ofvsMany
'A lot of' works for countable and uncountable; 'many' only for countable; 'much' only for uncountable.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy