Meaning & use
burdening someone
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
Giving someone a heavy load of work, worry, or responsibility that is hard to carry.
Grammar: Takes an object: burdening someone. The thing added goes after 'with': burdening someone with extra work.
Patterns
- burden someone with something
- avoid burdening someone
- without burdening someone
She kept the problem to herself, not wanting to burden her parents with it.
Stop burdening your colleagues with tasks that are yours.
verbtransitive
Making someone feel worried or guilty by asking for help or sharing problems.
Grammar: Often used in the negative: I don't want to burden you.
Patterns
- not want to burden someone
- burden someone with your problems
He didn't want to burden his friend with his worries.
I hate burdening you with my problems, but I need advice.
Word forms
| base form | burden |
|---|---|
| third person singular | burdens |
| past tense | burdened |
| past participle | burdened |
| -ing form | burdening |
Common combinations
- burden someone with something
- Don't burden her with all the paperwork.
- without burdening someone
- He solved it alone, without burdening anyone.
- avoid burdening someone
- They avoided burdening the staff with extra meetings.
- feel burdened by
- She felt burdened by everyone's expectations.
- a burden on someone
- The extra cost is a burden on small families.
Synonyms and how they differ
- loading
- Loading is more physical and literal, as in loading a truck; burdening is usually about work, worry, or responsibility.
- troubling
- Troubling someone means causing them mild worry or inconvenience; burdening suggests a heavier, longer-lasting weight.
- imposing on
- Imposing on someone means asking for their time or help, often rudely; burdening stresses the weight of what you give them.
Opposites
Word family
- burden noun
- A heavy load, or a difficult duty or worry.
- burden verb
- To give someone a heavy load of work or worry.
- burdensome adjective
- Causing trouble or extra work; heavy to deal with.
- burdened adjective
- Carrying a heavy load or feeling weighed down by worry.
Commonly confused: burdening someone or boardening?
burdening someone vs boardening
'Boardening' is not a standard English word; the correct form is 'burdening', from burden.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase correctly?
Choose one answer.
The fixed pattern is 'burden someone with something', so 'with her problems' is correct; 'of', 'for', and 'at' do not fit this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “burdening someone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.