At fault meaning in English

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Definition

(to be) at fault: (to be) in the wrong, responsible for something negative idiom

Examples

"Stephanie : I'm afraid you Yanks are very much at fault."

Exercise 1

Choose all of the TRUE statements from the list below, according to Stephanie Irving.

There may be more than one correct answer!

America is largely responsible for the hole in the ozone layer.

The Australian Government signed the Kyoto Protocol.

America's economy depends on oil and coal.

It's a hot day in Australia, and many people are enjoying it at Bondi beach.

Choose all of the TRUE statements from the list below, according to Stephanie Irving.

There may be more than one correct answer!

America is largely responsible for the hole in the ozone layer.

This is a true statement. When Stephanie and Brent discuss who is responsible for the hole in the ozone layer, Stephanie tells Brent "I'm afraid you Yanks are very much at fault". "Yanks" (short for "Yankees" is an informal term for Americans, particularly northern Americans). Stephanie then explains that it is due to "America's oil and coal-reliant economy" as well as "US pollution" which is carried by the wind towards Australia. "To be at fault (for a bad decision)" is to be responsible for it.

The Australian Government signed the Kyoto Protocol.

This statement is false. Moira reminds Stephanie that the Australians refused "to sign the Kyoto treaty". Stephanie goes on to say that "the majority of Australians are against the government on this issue", which indicates that most Australians disagreed with the fact that the Government didn't sign the Kyoto Protocol.

America's economy depends on oil and coal.

This is a true statement. Stephanie describes America's economy as "oil and coal-reliant". The adjective "reliant" is joined to the noun "coal" to create a compound adjective. Other such examples are: solar-powered, oil-based, hydrogen-rich. The verb "to rely" is synonymous with "to depend" in most contexts. Stephanie is explaining that oil and coal are major components of America's economy.

It's a hot day in Australia, and many people are enjoying it at Bondi beach.

This statement is false. Although Stephanie does tell Moira and Brent "it's a scorcher!" meaning that it's extremely hot, she reports that Bondi Beach is "practically deserted", indicating that there aren't many people there. A "deserted" area has very few or no people in it.

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