Reliable describes someone or something that can be trusted to work or behave as expected.

The idea

Use reliable before a noun or after be: a reliable source; the service is reliable. The comparative is more reliable.

Examples

  • The bus service is reliable.
  • She is a reliable colleague.
  • We need reliable information before deciding.
  • The source is not always reliable.
  • This method gives more reliable results.
  • Check whether the data come from a reliable source.

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Watch out

A source being described as reliable is not itself evidence of accuracy; check its methods and support.

Try it yourself

  1. The service consistently works as expected. Choose the adjective. The service consistently works as expected; it is ___. (reliable / unreliable)

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    reliable

    Reliable describes the service after is.

  2. Choose the adjective before the noun source. Check whether the data come from a ___ source. (reliable / reliably)

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    reliable

    Reliable describes the source before the noun.

  3. Choose the comparative adjective phrase. This method gives ___ results than the earlier one. (more reliable / more reliability)

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    more reliable

    More reliable compares the results with others.

Use it today

Describe a reliable service and explain how you would evaluate a source.