at/for a big price

[GUEST2008]

Hi

He wants to sell it to me at/for a big price.

--- At or For?

 

[Sohrab Khan]

at a big price

 

[emsr2d2]

I prefer "a high price", not "big".

 

[BobK]

:up: Prices are high/steep/exorbitant/astronomical/ridiculous/abominable/frightful/appalling...; rarely if ever 'big'.

I'm relieved that GUEST2008 has seen the correect answer. If s/he hadn't 'liked' ems2dr's post, I wouldn't know; s/he might have been content with misinformation. People who aren't teachers (of English) should observe the forum rules - especially in the 'Ask a Teacher' forum.

b

 

[Marco Moreira]

HiHe wants to sell it to me at/for a big price.--- At or For?

As we see at: How to Get Acquired for a Big Price | Inc.com and many others sites, I think both are correct. Am I right? Is there any grammar rule for this situation?


NOT A TEACHER

 

[bhaisahab]

As we see at: How to Get Acquired for a Big Price | Inc.com and many others sites, I think both are correct. Am I right? Is there any grammar rule for this situation?


NOT A TEACHER

This seems to be business usage, it is not used in general English.

 

[BobK]

'Big price' is the 72nd commonest 'adj. + price' in BNC (with 9 hits - 22 times fewer than the commonest, that is to say, not common at all ;-)). It is more commmon in COCA - at 22nd (still not very common).

Its use in financial contexts suggests to me that it may have been introduced and spread by non-native MBA students*. I know that doesn't mean it's 'not part of the language', but it explains why emsr2d2 - in common with me and many other native speakers - finds it an uncomfortable collocation.

* Perhaps false friends come into it. Is a prix grand rather than haut, is a precio grande rather than alto, is a preis groβ rather thanhoch...:-? (Those three languages are by no means the only relevant ones - and I have no feel for the strength of the collocations anyway- but they're pretty significant in the development of Am Eng.)

b

 

[charliedeut]

* Perhaps false friends come into it. Is a prix grand rather than haut, is a precio grande rather than alto, is a preis groβ rather thanhoch...:-? (Those three languages are by no means the only relevant ones - and I have no feel for the strength of the collocations anyway- but they're pretty significant in the development of Am Eng.)

b

Hi there BobK. In Spanish (in Spain, I mean, I'm no specialist in Spanish spoken in the Americas), at least as far as I know, a price is not "grande", except maybe in children talk or, as it seems to happen in English, in conversations with/between foreigners.

Greetings,

Charliedeut

 

[Barb_D]

Definitely you will hear "comes at too big a price" or "pay too big a price" (and you will also hear "high" in both of those).
However, for the original question, "big" doesn't work, even for this American steeped in business jargon; you need "high."