Hello.:-D
Please let me ask a question here.
Does 'cheap' collocates with 'person'?
"He is a very cheap person."
I've never read/heard a sentence like this.
I do know "Don't be so cheap (- meaning 'stingy' or 'mean'." is OK, but I don't think "Don't be such a cheap person." would work. Oh...hang on....It could work if the 'cheap' is used in the sense of 'having a low status' or 'not deserving respect'. Am I correct?
No, it doesn't work with "low status" or "not deserving respect". Although we don't often actually say "Don't be such a cheap person", that is what is meant by "Don't be so cheap". It's just a shorter (and more natural) way of saying it. If someone said "Don't be such a cheap person", it would still mean "Don't be so stingy". I think it sounds unnatural because of the use of the word "person". We rarely use constructions with "person" like that.
- Don't be such a nasty person. (Unnatural)
- Dont be so nasty. (Natural)
- Don't be such a mean person. (Unnatural)
- Don't be so mean. (Natural)
What you might hear after "cheap" would be another negative word, such as "b*stard" or "git". "Don't be such a cheap git" would not sound unnatural.