lest

[tufguy]

Hi guys,

Are these sentences correct?

1) He was afraid lest he fall down because this would have costed him very much.

2) He was afraid lest he get dupted.

 

[lfthnLl]

Lest is used as if there were should.
He was afraid lest he (should) fall down ...

 

[Barb_D]

No.
You do something to avoid something that you don't want to happen.
If you can substitute "for fear that" you can use lest.

He walked very carefully lest he should slip on the icy road.
She bit her lip lest she say what she was really thinking.
He researched the company carefully lest he get duped by the people asking him to invest.

For your sentences:
He was afraid that he would fall down, because that would cost him greatly. (Is he a runner in a race? How does falling down cost you something?)
He was afraid that he could get duped.

See this page: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lest

(My dialect does not require the use of "should")

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

Do you really use "lest"? I don't come across with it frequently in spoken-English.

 

[Matthew Wai]

How does falling down cost you something?

A waiter holding a tray of expensive dishes falling down may cost his job.

Not a teacher

 

[tufguy]

So I can't use "Lest" in these sentences, is it right, is it safer to use should after "Lest". Please tell whether I used it correctly?

 

[MikeNewYork]

In AmE, we use the subjunctive after "lest" (see Barb's examples"). In BrE, they often use "should" instead of the subjunctive. Both are acceptable.

 

[tufguy]

Ok so my sentences are acceptable.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I didn't say that.

 

[tufguy]

So is it ok to use "should" everytime I use "lest". What mistake did I make in writing those sentences I jave used subjunctive after "lest".

 

[MikeNewYork]

If you are talking about your original sentences, "would have costed him" is incorrect.

 

[probus]

Do you really use "lest"? I don't come across with it frequently in spoken-English.

I agree with you, Boris, that lest is nowadays rarely heard. I might use it occasionally in writing but almost never in speech.

 

[Rover_KE]

Tufguy, always write 'OK' in capitals.

 

[tufguy]

So what I should have used instead of "would have done" and in that sentence I am referring to a past incident and I want to say that he did everything carefully in order to avoid falling, if he had fallen earlier then it would have costed him so did I write it wrong?

 

[Matthew Wai]

"He was very careful lest he fall down."
"If he had fallen, it would have cost him dearly."
Do you mean so?

Not a teacher.

 

[SoothingDave]

Do you really use "lest"? I don't come across with it frequently in spoken-English.

It isn't used commonly at all. If I was concerned about learning modern, conversational English, I would not worry about this word.

 

[tufguy]

Its not about the word, I just want to gain full knowledge, its better not to have knowledge about a thing than to have less or improper knowledge(have I written the phrasr correctly)?

 

[Barb_D]

So what I should have used instead of "would have done"? In that sentence I am referring to a past incident and I want to say that he did everything carefully in order to avoid falling. If he had fallen earlier, [STRIKE]then [/STRIKE]it would have cost[STRIKE]ed[/STRIKE] him. So, did I write it wrong?

If he had fallen, it would have been costly to him.
I would have cost him dearly.

The third form of "cost" is "cost." It costs this much. It used to cost that much. I has cost even more in the past.

It's not about the word. I just want to gain full knowledge. Is it better to not [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] have knowledge about [STRIKE]a thing[/STRIKE] something than to have less or improper knowledge? (Have I written the phrase correctly)?

I agree that knowing what a word means should you happen to see it is useful.

But don't spend to much time worrying about how to use it properly.

Although I actually used it yesterday, it was the first time I've used it in long time and I did it to adopt a mock formal style.

The problem with your original sentences is that if you subsitute "for fear that" for "lest" (as you can) you would have said "He was afraid for fear that he would fall" instead of "He was afraid that he would fall" or "He was very careful lest he [should] fall."