を頼りにgoing by; relying on
You find your way, or get by, with one thing to go on and usually not much else: an old map, a faint light, a memory.
Going by an old map, I walked through the fog to the mountain hut.
I am staying in college on the money my older brother sends me.
How to form it
Noun + を頼りに（して）
して can follow and changes nothing. Often with だけ: 記憶だけを頼りに, with only memory to go by.
- Before it
- A guide or a clue: 地図, 記憶, 明かり, 声, 勘. Something or someone to lean on: 杖, 友人, 仕送り.
- After it
- What you manage with its help, often finding or reaching a place, or getting by: 探す, 進む, たどり着く, 暮らす.
- Where you'll meet it
- Stories, travel writing, news. In conversation too.
In use
With only the address to go by, I looked for the shop.
Going by distant memories, I drew the house I lived in as a child.
It was dark underfoot, so I went down the stairs relying on my cane.
頼りにする: to count on
With する ending the sentence it is "count on": you trust someone to come through. A 頼りになる人 is someone you can count on.
Everyone is counting on you.
Close neighbours
をもとに（して）N2
Something is the raw material, and something new is made from it.
This novel is based on a true story, but the characters' names and the ending are invented.
に基づいてN2
What is decided or done rests on a rule, a standard or the facts, and sticks to them.
The committee identified the cause of the accident based on the evidence submitted.
Check yourself
1Which sentence sounds natural?
Choose an answer to see why.
2Who relies on whom?
困った
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
Going by advice from local people, we avoided the roads blocked by snow.
He looked for a place to live and a job, relying on a friend who lived there.