Holding someone responsible

The idea

Use blame someone for something or blame something on someone or something.

Examples

• I blame the rain for the delay.
• They blamed the driver for the crash.
• She blamed the mistake on tiredness.
• We blamed the noise on the wind.
• Do not blame yourself for the error.
• The team blamed the defeat on poor planning.

Watch out

Do not reverse the patterns: say blame the delay on the rain, not blame the rain on the delay.

Try it yourself

1. Choose the correct form. They blame the clerk ___ the missing papers. (for / on)

   Show answer or example answer

   for

   for introduces the missing documents as the problem.

2. Choose the correct form. He blamed the delay ___ a storm. (on / for)

   Show answer or example answer

   on

   on introduces the cause of the delay.

3. Choose the correct form. Yesterday we ___ the printer for the error. (blamed / blame)

   Show answer or example answer

   blamed

   blamed is the regular past form.

Use it today

Describe a problem and two possible causes.