Is it confidence in or confidence on?

Q: Which preposition is used with confidence?

Confident is one of them; it is always followed by the preposition of. e.g. He is confident of his sons success.

Someone suggested Googling the expression to see which preposition was used most often. But that way, you’re not getting the correct grammar, just the most common usage. If you look at dictionary examples, such as the Merriam Webster online dictionary, you’ll see that “confident of” is used.

Índice Show

Which is correct confidence on or in?
Do you say confident in?
Which preposition is used with confidence?
Which is correct confident about or confident of?

For example, “I am confident of my ability to learn grammar.” “I am confident of her trustworthiness.”

But with “confidence,” you need to use “in”: “I have confidence in her trustworthiness.”

If you have the sentence,
“The enterprise is confident in promoting innovation.”
it would be better to change it to “confident that it can promote innovation” to make the meaning clear.

A FOLLOWER of mine on Facebook, Marianne Freya Gutib, recently asked me these very interesting grammar questions:

1. When do we use “confident in” and “confident of”? What is denoted by these words?

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Trust in even Trust to (I trust you to do the right thing- I trust to the limits that they will get it done. )

4.-She knows she can rely on them. Here you rely on anything (the bus, the store, your dad, etc...)

to rely on means you lean on them
like being on something - supported by something
you rely on the wheels of the car to take you safely to your destination- you do not Believe in them
but you trust in your mechanic who put those wheels on your car to take you safely to your destination
you rely on your mechanic for his good service and for his knowledge

you rely on your dad because he takes care of you- provides for you- keeps you in food and shelter
you rely on your dad to get you to school on time
it is a support you rely on
you can still believe in him, trust in him. (it does not have to poetic or biblical to use Believe in for someone other than God. )
I believe in you- means I trust you-
5.-That is such a heavy burden on her.

a burden is ON someone - like a mule or a pack animal - they carry burdens
the burden is ON one-

the burden is not IN you- but ON you. it is figurative like a heavy bag on your- the cross of the Lord is His burden (all of our sins)

A fellow editor was wondering about the distinction, if any, between confident in and confident about. This is what I make of it:

You can have confidence in a thing or person – that means you trust it. It’s other-oriented. Confidence about can be self-oriented or a more neutral assessment of likelihoods, but tends to refer to some specific assessment of probability more explicitly stated, whereas “confident in” needs no further explanation.

Say, for example, that at some point you say the Leafs won’t make it to the playoffs. At a later point, to the same person (who remembers you saying the first thing), you say

a) I’m confident about the Leafs.
or
b) I’m confident in the Leafs.

Option (a) is likely to be taken as meaning that your perspective hasn’t changed – you’re confident that the Leafs won’t make it.

Option (b) is likely to be taken as meaning that your perspective has changed, and you’re now confident that the Leafs will succeed, unless you have framed losing as a goal. (Example: “I’ve bet against the Leafs. Got big money riding on their losing. But I’m confident in them – they won’t disappoint me by accidentally winning.”)

Also consider that if you say “I’m confident in this bridge,” it may sound odd, as confidence is usally placed in something capable of being an active agent, whereas if you say “I’m confident about this bridge” without further explanation, the person you’re speaking to will likely ask for further clarification: “In what way? How so? Confident about what about it?” expecting a reply such as “I’m confident that it is the bridge we were looking for.”

The preposition is the key. In enters the object, invests it, makes it the agent; about looks at the object from outside. Compare believe in with believe about.

Which is correct confidence on or in?

In many contexts, the correct thing to say is a vote of confidence in someone, not on him or her. It is like the expression, repose confidence in, also not on.

Do you say confident in?

You can have confidence in a thing or person – that means you trust it. It's other-oriented. Confidence about can be self-oriented or a more neutral assessment of likelihoods, but tends to refer to some specific assessment of probability more explicitly stated, whereas “confident in” needs no further explanation.