Need help with a quick translation

[MengJiaSheng]

Hey everyone,

for an essay I need to write I would just like to know whether I can use the word 恩人 in the following way:

政府是A最大的恩人。meaning The Government is A's greatest benefactor(or has helped A the most). I am asking as I suspect that 恩人 with the 人in it can only be used for actual people, but not for organisations like a government.

Thanks a lot.

[xiaocai]

I think you can use 恩人 here. It sounds quite natural to me. But if if really want to avoid using 人 you can say something like 政府对A有(大)恩.

[ma3zi1]

I think your intuition is correct, but I wouldn't argue with the native speaker who posted above me. Anyway, another way you could say it is:

政府是A最大的靠山。

Check out these definitions:

靠山：比喻可依賴的人或集團。

"Signifies a reliable and supportive person or institution"

恩人：對自己愛顧、幫助的人。

"A person who is caring and helpful to an individual"

[MengJiaSheng]

Thanks a lot for the help you two. I think I will stick with 恩人 then, as I quite like the sound of it. But I did not know 靠山before so thanks for that too:)