Meaning
to hold someone responsible for a fault or wrong
Primary Function
assigns responsibility for negative events
Communicative Purpose
to express disapproval or identify causality
Pattern
blame; for
Core Structure
blame; for
Função primária
assigns responsibility for negative events
Propósito comunicativo
to express disapproval or identify causality
Situações de gatilho
conflicts, failure analysis, accountability
Contextos
everyday conversation, professional settings, legal contexts
Padrão
blame; for
Estrutura central
blame; for
Slots de substituição
someone for something/doing something
Colocados típicos
- unfairly
- solely
- partly
- can't blame you for
- to blame for
Substituições comuns
- hold responsible for
- accuse of (more serious)
Erros comuns
using *blame on (blame something on someone) – different structure; *blame for + person
Similar / contraste
accuse of, hold accountable for, fault for
Interferências
French 'blâmer pour' is correct; Spanish 'culpar por' may cause learners to incorrectly use *blame for with inverted word order
Família do chunk
- accuse of
- fault for
- hold responsible for
- criticize for
Nuance
'blame for' is the standard phrasing; 'blame on' shifts perspective to attributing blame indirectly (e.g., blaming the accident on the weather)
Efeito pragmático
negative and potentially confrontational tone; can be softened by adverbs like partially or not entirely
Dica de memória
blame me
Nota
This chunk is often used to assign responsibility in negative situations. It can be used in both formal and informal contexts.
Upgrade path
use ‘hold liable for’ or ‘attribute responsibility for’ in formal settings
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