Hi expert teachers,
Bananas sell by dozen. Correct?
We can’t use “man/boy etc” after “miser/coward”, right?
Many thanks.
To me, “Bananas are sold by the dozen.” is more natural, as the bananas are not selling themselves.
No, it would have to be “miserly man” or “cowardly boy”.
Thank you very much.
He’s a miser/coward. Here I can’t use “boy/man”, right?
That’s what Luschen has already explained.
Thank you very much, BN.
Yes, I understood that, BN. “He’s a miser.” I want to ask if this sentence is correct and if I add “boy” then it should be “a miserly boy”, not “a miser boy”, right?
That’s what Luschen has already explained.
“Bananas sell by dozen” is not natural but is it grammatically correct?
No, you need “the dozen”.
Though maybe it should be “dozens”? I know for a book you could say: “Her books have sold by the millions.”
‘by the millions/dozens,’ etc. sounds very odd to me.
Are you sure you aren’t thinking of ‘in the millions’, Luschen?
“In the millions” is ok too, but “by the millions” doesn’t sound that odd to me. I agree that “by the dozens” is somewhat odd. Here are some examples:
amazon.com/Sold-Millions-Bes … 1443835846
Maybe “by the dozens” is ok too: idioms.thefreedictionary.com/by+the+dozens
Ah well, diversity is what makes life interesting, I suppose.
Hello, Luchen!
A similar topic was discussed not long ago and the sentence “These books are selling well these days” was correct then. We call(ed) the verbs like sell, grow, change, read etc. ergative verbs.
Thus, “Bananas sell by the dozen” is correct, isn’t it?
Thanks.
I suppose in some special circumstances it would be fine. Maybe a salesmen at a fruit stand might say “I can’t seem to give these apples away, but the bananas sell by the dozen.” But the bare sentence “Bananas sell by the dozen.” does not sound natural to me, even though it is “correct”.
XboxOne, the latest gaming console developed by Microsoft, sells like hot cakes.
(This sentence, found in some write-up, looks intelligible, perfect and natural, Luschen.)
What do ‘hot cakes’ have to do with ‘dozen/s’?
You cannot compare the two.
Luschen, I hope you understand why I have cited another example at #16.
Yes, I understand that you are showing how “sell” is an ergative verb. To me though, your comment might be construed as being a little rude towards Beeesneees as you sort of seem to be bypassing her in the conversation.
XboxOne, the latest gaming console developed by Microsoft, sells like hot cakes.
(If the highlighted word in the above sentence had been noticed, that irrelevant remark could have been avoided)