make out/make a good case for

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joham

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She made out/made a good case for (=gave good arguments for) lowering our prices.

Do both 'make and make out' go well with 'a case for sth'?
Thank you in advance.
 

bhaisahab

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She made out/made a good case for (=gave good arguments for) lowering our prices.

Do both 'make and make out' go well with 'a case for something?
Thank you in advance.
I wouldn't use "made out", "made" is fine on it's own.
 

joham

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Thanks a lot, bhaisahab. I too feels it strange that this sentence with 'made out' comes from LONGMAN DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE,in the entry of case.
 

joham

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After reading bhaisahab's reply, I looked the 'case' up again, this time in OXFORD, and found this sentence:
The report makes out a strong case (= gives good arguments) for spending more money on hospitals.

It's a bit odd, isn't it? Expressions like this are often headaches for ESLs.
 

Raymott

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After reading bhaisahab's reply, I looked the 'case' up again, this time in OXFORD, and found this sentence:
The report makes out a strong case (= gives good arguments) for spending more money on hospitals.

It's a bit odd, isn't it? Expressions like this are often headaches for ESLs.
I also wouldn't use 'make out', but it shouldn't be too confusing. There are often several different ways of saying something, and if it's in a good dictionary, it will be correct.
 
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