100 Mistakes #7 - 'Responsible' is an adjective

'Responsible' is an adjective, like 'impossible', 'probable', 'flexible', 'likeable', 'horrible'... or any other word that ends in 'ible' or 'able'.

It is impossible to use 'responsible' as a noun in English.

Who is the responsable for authorizing policy decisions?
Who is responsible for authorizing policy decisions?

Notice that in the correct English sentence, there is no 'the' because 'the' comes before nouns, and 'responsible' is not a noun.

In Spanish and French, 'responsable', can be used as a noun. Note the difference in spelling too!

I am the responsible of the Human Resources department.
I am in charge of the Human Resources department.

'In charge of' explains that you are the person who is ultimately responsible for something. Notice that it is always 'responsible for' and never 'responsible of'.

I'd like to speak to the responsible for complaints.
I'd like to speak to the person responsible for dealing with complaints.

"person responsible" = person who is responsible
(We have not suddenly changed the rules for the position of adjectives!)

If you really need to use a noun, you could try 'manager' or 'representative':

I'm applying for the position of Responsable of Sales in Central and Eastern Europe.
I'm applying for the position of Sales Manager for Central and Eastern Europe.

Are you the responsible from the Berlin office?
Are you the representative from the Berlin office?

So the next time you catch yourself saying "the responsible", kick yourself hard in the shins for being so irresponsible.