Meanings
phrase
- Used to indicate that different situations may produce different results.
As with any builder asked to quote for a house extension, there will be an intake of breath before you're told: "It depends."
2025 July 9, Mel Holley, “How much should a station cost?”, in RAIL, number 1039, page 25
Translations
Arabic ذلك يعتمد
- ذلك يعتمد (ḏālika yaʕtamidu)it depends
Chinese Cantonese 睇情況 /睇情况
- 睇情況 /睇情况 (tai² cing⁴ fong³)it depends
Chinese Mandarin 看情況 /看情况, 取決於…… /取决于……
- 看情況 /看情况 (kàn qíngkuàng)it depends
- 取決於…… /取决于…… (qǔjuéyú...)it depends
Dutch het hangt ervan af
- het hangt ervan afit depends
Finnish se riippuu (jostakin)
- se riippuu (jostakin)it depends
French ça dépend
- ça dépendit depends
German das kommt darauf an
- das kommt darauf anit depends
Hebrew תָּלוּי
- תָּלוּי (talúy, tālûy)it depends
Hindi वह निर्भर करता हैं
- वह निर्भर करता हैं (vah nirbhar kartā ha͠i)it depends
Hungarian attól függ
- attól függit depends
Italian dipende
- dipendeit depends
Persian بستگی دارد
- بستگی دارد (bastegi dârad)it depends
Polish to zależy
- to zależyit depends
Portuguese depende
- dependeit depends
Romanian depinde
- depindeit depends
Spanish depende
- dependeit depends
Swedish det beror på
- det beror påit depends
Tagalog depende
- dependeit depends
Turkish duruma göre değişir
- duruma göre değişirit depends
Urdu صورت حال پر منحصر ہے, صورت حال پر انحصار کرتا ہے
- صورت حال پر منحصر ہے (sūrat-e-hāl par munhasir hai)it depends
- صورت حال پر انحصار کرتا ہے (sūrat-e-hāl par inhisār kartā hai)it depends
- صورت حال پر دار و مدار ہے (sūrat-e-hāl par dār-o-madār hai)it depends
Cite this entry
APA
it depends. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/it%20depends
MLA
“it depends.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/it%20depends. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “it depends,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/it%20depends.
Source: it depends on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.