Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[jumbonaut]

If someone takes money from the government, but contributes little in return, they are said to be society's burden.

There is another way to express it: "burden to society" or "burden on society." Is either way correct? If not, which is the correct preposition?

[redset]

We'd usually say "burden on society", but either preposition is fine. A burden is a heavy weight someone needs to carry, something that makes life harder for the people involved - so a burden on someone or something is a load that they have to bear, a weight on their shoulders.

If you say something is a burden to someone, you're saying that person sees the thing as a burden, that's their perception of it or their relationship to it. So really you can use either preposition, they both have a slightly different flavour (although the meaning's the same) but "burden to" implies someone sees the thing as a burden, so the burden is on a living thing - it would sound strange to talk about an inanimate object this way:

"The heavy trailer is a burden on the car" (the extra weight is making the car work harder, it can't go as fast)

"The heavy trailer is a burden to the car" (that's how the car sees the trailer? Cars have opinions?)

So you might see society as a whole lot of people (in which case to works fine), or you might see it as a concept (in which case to sounds a bit strange). Both are valid, but people tend to use burden on society more often in my experience!