Characteristic Of: Standard Pattern
Characteristic Of: Standard Pattern records the directly documented adjective construction while separating it from the noun senses of characteristic.
Cambridge documents “characteristic of” when describing a quality that is typical of a person, group, or thing.
Key details
Choose the right form
| Meaning / situation | Construction | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| describe a quality typical of a person, group, thing, place, or period | characteristic of + noun/pronoun | use “of” for the thing that typically has the quality |
| name the quality itself as a noun | a characteristic of + noun | the same “of” relation remains natural |
Quick tests
Typicality test
Are you saying that a feature is typical of something?
If yes: Use “characteristic of.”
If no: If you mean a different relation, rewrite rather than forcing this pattern.
Caveat: The construction identifies what the quality is typical of; it does not by itself say the quality is unique.
Examples
The narrow streets are characteristic of the old quarter.
“Of” introduces the place for which the feature is typical.
Patience is a characteristic of effective mentors.
The noun construction uses the same relation.
The pattern is characteristic for this species.
Better: The pattern is characteristic of this species.
In standard English, “characteristic of” is the safer established pattern here.
Further guidance
Construction
Cambridge examples document characteristic of for a quality that is typical of a person, group, or thing.
Style Boundary
This page records the supported characteristic-of construction without turning noun uses of characteristic into the same rule.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- characteristic — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge University Press · Cambridge dictionary evidence for the adjective construction characteristic of someone or something.