I don’t understand the phrase “bought and buy” in this sentence: “One of the major reasons people bought and buy Faberge is the connection with the imperial family.”
Could someone please help me?
Thanks very much for your concerning!
Hi Nguyenletha,
I don’t like that wording at all. It’s more than enough to simply say ‘buy’.
I suppose the writer might have wanted to stress the fact that the reason was the same for both past was well as present purchases of Faberge.
Nevertheless, it is not an example of “good writing”.
[color=darkblue]
[size=75]“No man is rich enough to buy back his past.” ~ Oscar Wilde[/size]
Thank you very much for your answer!
Yes, I think so! I agree with you. I just want to make sure if I was right or not because I see and hear that sentence at a VOA’s video on Youtube! You can see that sentence appear at 0:38 sec. Check it out if you like:
youtube.com/watch?v=fCmiFcpQ … r_embedded
As Esl-Expert has indicated, the use is to stress both what happened in the past and what happens now.
In something like an unscripted spoken interview, it’s not terribly unusual for some awkwardness in wording to occur. In addition, the speaker of that sentence did not seem to be a native speaker of English. Though his English is very good, he (his accent) sounds to me like someone whose mother tongue is German.
Anyway, he could have achieved his ‘bought and buy’ idea with the present perfect this way, for example:
- One of the major reasons people buy Faberge has always been the connection with the imperial family.
Oh, I see! Thank you both for your answers!!!