ENGLISH
REFERENCE

related to sth/sb

prep. phr..
B1 Intermediate Oxford

prep. phr.. connected to something or someone in some way. You use this when two things have a link or belong to the same family.

prep. phr.. indicating a connection, association, or kinship between two entities; often used to describe thematic links or biological relationships.


SIMPLE

Is your job related to your studies?

CONTEXTUAL

The police are questioning a man in connection with crimes related to car theft.

COMPLEX

The researchers discovered that the decline in local bird populations was directly related to the increased use of specific pesticides in nearby farmland.

Usage

usually follows a form of the verb 'to be' and is followed by the preposition 'to'.

Teaching tip

help students distinguish between the 'connected by topic' sense and the 'family' sense; note that 'related to' is more common than 'kin to' in modern English.

Pitfall

This problem is related with the weather.This problem is related to the weather.the adjective 'related' always takes the preposition 'to', not 'with'.

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