Google
English-Test.net
Find penpals and make new friends today!
 
ethic; lesson; principle
environment
readiness
moral
artisan
TOEIC practice test: Online word games: Free Nouns Quiz Answer
 
Username
Password
 Remember me? 
Search   FAQ   Memberlist   Profile   Private messages   Register   Log in 

"confident of" vs. "confident in"



 
ESL/EFL Worksheets and Handouts for Students Printable, photocopiable, clearly structured
Designed for teachers and individual learners
For use in a classroom, at home, on your PC
ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
difference between pupil and people | present perfect simple or continuous
Message Author
"confident of" vs. "confident in" Wed Jan 23, 2008 12:27 pm  "confident of" vs. "confident in"
 

Could you please tell me the difference between these two phrases:

1. I am confident of ...
2. I am confident in ...

I looked up "confident" in a dictionary and found the phrase "confident of".
I could not find, however, that another phrase "confident in" there,
which I sometimes see in articles.

I am very keen to know whether there is a diffrence between these or not
and whether the second one is popular or not.

Thank you.
Ichiro
New Member


Joined: 08 Aug 2007
Posts: 5
Location: London

"confident of" vs. "confident in" Wed Jan 23, 2008 16:02 pm  "confident of" vs. "confident in"
 

Ichiro, "confident of" and "confident in" are the same thing. As far as I can tell, they're completely interchangeable and both correct. If you believe Google search statistics, the exact phrase "confident in" is about two-thirds more common than "confident of".
Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4159
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA

How many different ways with words do you know? Subscribe to free email English courseHow do you use the English Prepositions correctly?English grammar exercises — improve your English knowledge and vocabulary skillsAre you a native speaker of English? Then you should read this!
"confident of" vs. "confident in" Wed Jan 23, 2008 17:20 pm  "confident of" vs. "confident in"
 

Thank you for replying to my question. It is very helpful.
Ichiro
New Member


Joined: 08 Aug 2007
Posts: 5
Location: London

"confident of" vs. "confident in" Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:57 pm  "confident of" vs. "confident in"
 

Thanks.
Can you tell me more about the statistics. Where can I access the database?
sympathy
You can meet me at english-test.net


Joined: 08 Dec 2007
Posts: 84

"confident of" vs. "confident in" Thu Jan 24, 2008 13:56 pm  "confident of" vs. "confident in"
 

sympathy wrote:
Thanks.
Can you tell me more about the statistics. Where can I access the database?

You don't need to access a language database. You can just type each exact phrase into Google, and that will give you a rough idea.

"confident of" - 3,420,000 hits
"confident in" - 6,170,000 hits
Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4159
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA

"confident of" vs. "confident in" Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:48 am  "confident of" vs. "confident in"
 

"I'm confident of him" mainly refers to his doing or action.
"I'm confident in him" mainly refers to his personaliy.
That's my opinion.Generally,before verb-ing,in may be used more often.
_________________
Make new friends,but keep the old!
lxguy
I'm new here and I like it ;-)


Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 20
Location: PRC

"confident of" vs. "confident in" Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:01 am  "confident of" vs. "confident in"
 

lxguy wrote:
"I'm confident of him" mainly refers to his doing or action.
"I'm confident in him" mainly refers to his personaliy.

Google the exact phrases "confident of him" and "confident in him", look at the results, and you'll find your distinction doesn't hold true. Furthermore, you'll find that in the majority of examples of "confident in him" the word "him" refers to Jesus. (Maybe the PRC government will censor those out, but we can see it here.)

lxguy wrote:
That's my opinion.Generally,before verb-ing,in may be used more often.

I didn't understand that statement. Could you try explaining it again?
Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 4159
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA

"confident of" vs. "confident in" Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:52 am  "confident of" vs. "confident in"
 

1.Well,the two sentences I put forward are just two examples.Apparently they don't have any relation with Jesus.Besides him,many other pronouns can be followed.
e.g.
And your audience will feel your confidence. Your audience, too, will be confident. They will be confident in you.

2.By the way,I mean before a verb which is ended with ing form,"be confident in" may be used more often.
e.g. The enterprise is confident in promoting innovation.
confident in fighting illegal pricing
_________________
Make new friends,but keep the old!
lxguy
I'm new here and I like it ;-)


Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Posts: 20
Location: PRC

Display posts from previous:   
difference between pupil and people | present perfect simple or continuous
ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms "confident of" vs. "confident in" All times are GMT + 2 Hours
Page 1 of 1
Latest topics on English Forums
Expression: "Everything is half price."A riddlereported speech (He said he was at school yesterday.)"since I was 10" or "since my age of ten"expression 'home and dry'the use of the word 'very'"relation" vs. "relationship"Is that really an indirect speech?meaning of the phrase "dance silly secrets""how to deal with" or "how to do with"?Her oven is on the fritz?get somebody by default?Usage of filling (Chewing toffee caused my filling came out!)meaning of 'rotten'Can we call repurchase a synonymous antonym of resell?"Ms. Bruni is a catch?" What does catch here mean?Sentence from VOA: to empower the modern and moderate voices and to disable...When and why using did/didn't instead of had/hadn't?"confident of" vs. "confident in"

Discover English-test.net
Shake them by the handExpression: in the hot seatExpression for things in the futureWhat does "walking like a sour kraut" mean?to send ON the address or to send AT the address?GRE Verbal Test: Take a Vocabulary Quiz: Noun Adjective Verb ListsGRE practice test: Interactive word games: Free Online Nouns Adjectives Verbs GameDefine encroachment, nepotism, equine, indicative, authoritative, defoliateVocabulary exercise: English verb noun adjective prepositionSentences practice: Ways of commentingEnglish grammar quiz: Bond Issues

 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Subscribe to FREE email English course written by Alan Townend
First name E-mail