r/ENGLISH • u/eazyelegenda • 13h ago

Liability or responsibility?

What’s the difference between liability and responsibility??

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u/Sensitive_Noise9761 13h ago

Liability: accountable for risk, damage, charges, or other loss.

Responsibility: being in charge and accountable for something, owning the outcome.

For instance:

You have the responsibility of feeding the dogs.

If you don't feed them, they'll be a liability and tear up the house.

Or

I have the responsibility of delivering court papers to the attorney. If he's slow, he could present a liability to our case. We want to win, after all.

Or

It's your responsibility to take the trash out. It's a liability to keep it piled up in the shed, as rodents will find it and make a mess.

1

u/eazyelegenda 13h ago

Thank you very much !

2

u/Telecom_VoIP_Fan 5h ago

Liability implies a legal right to claim damages from the party that is liable. Responsibility is at a lesser level in this regard. For example, the responsible party may or may not be liable depending on the specific circumstances.