8Likes
Reply With Quote1. This is OK, as long as you end the sentence with a period.Originally Posted by licinio
2. This is confused. Are you buying or selling the metal?
3. They are asking a lot of money...
Results 1 to 10 of 13
- 23-Feb-2012, 17:39 #1
Junior Member
- Join Date
- May 2006
- Posts
- 98
ask / ask for Can you correct please?
You ask someone for directions
They asked me £ 10 for that scrap of metal
The ask a lot of money for that new house
- 23-Feb-2012, 18:00 #2
VIP Member
- Join Date
- Apr 2009
- Posts
- 7,286
Re: ask / ask for
- 23-Feb-2012, 18:56 #3
Senior Member
- Join Date
- Aug 2010
- Posts
- 601
Re: ask / ask for NOT A TEACHER
They asked me £ 10 for that scrap of metal.
Why is this ambiguous? I understand this statement means "They wanted me to pay 10 pounds for that scrap of metal." Can it really mean something like "They offered me 10 pounds for that scrap of metal."?
- 23-Feb-2012, 19:00 #4
Moderator
- Join Date
- Mar 2007
- Posts
- 14,274
Re: ask / ask for If it said "They offered me 10 pounds (I can't make the pound symbol)..." it would mean that. It doesn't mean that with "asked." Originally Posted by CarloSsS I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.
- 23-Feb-2012, 19:23 #5
Senior Member
- Join Date
- Aug 2010
- Posts
- 601
Re: ask / ask for So in what way is the sentence 'confused' as SoothingDave put it? Originally Posted by Barb_D
- 23-Feb-2012, 19:36 #6
VIP Member
- Join Date
- Apr 2009
- Posts
- 7,286
Re: ask / ask for It's confused because "asked" isn't used in that way. Either they "offered" you 10 pounds for the metal (they were buying) or they "were asking" 10 pounds (they were selling). You can't say they "asked me" in this context.
- 24-Feb-2012, 03:42 #7
Newbie
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
- Posts
- 4
Re: ask / ask for Is it correct to say They asked me to pay £10 for that scrap of metal?
- 24-Feb-2012, 08:20 #8
Editor, UsingEnglish.com
- Join Date
- Nov 2002
- Posts
- 38,628
Re: ask / ask for You can, but it means something a bit different- they were making a request more than giving a price in your version IMO.
- 26-Feb-2012, 10:16 #9
Junior Member
- Join Date
- May 2006
- Posts
- 98
Re: ask / ask for This seems to contradict the general rule whereby you ask for something in order to have it, and ask something in order to know it.
Last edited by licinio; 26-Feb-2012 at 16:24.
- 26-Feb-2012, 10:37 #10
Moderator
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
- Posts
- 23,994
Re: ask / ask for It is not an exception to any rule.
If you request something, you ask for it.
If you state the price your wish to receive for something, you ask that price.Context is important. Please provide enough for us to be able to deal effectively with your question.
Your thread title should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.
If you just want to know the meaning of a word, try OneLook Dictionary Search first.
Posting Permissions
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.1