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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Vocabulary

Average as a verb.

Is average that common in current American English? It a little bit unfamiliar for my ear. When I should use it? I give you some example :

Enquiries to our office average 1000 calls a month.
Many doctors average (= work an average of) 70 hours a week.
Trainee accountants average (= earn an average of) £12 000 per year.
  

Top answer

All your examples are unremarkable as regards "average", but I think I should mention that "inquiry" is usual in America, most numbers of more than three digits take commas here (1,000 and 12,000), and our accountants earn dollars, not pounds sterling (insert appropriate smiley here). This use of "average" rings of business-speak, but not so much that people don't say it. It is the usual way of expressing what a job pays.

— Enoon

  • All your examples are unremarkable as regards "average", but I think I should mention that "inquiry" is usual in America, most numbers of more than three digits take commas here (1,000 and 12,000), and our accountants earn dollars, not pounds sterling (insert appropriate smiley here).
  • This use of "average" rings of business-speak, but not so much that people don't say it.
  • It is the usual way of expressing what a job pays.
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12 Answers
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All your examples are unremarkable as regards "average", but I think I should mention that "inquiry" is usual in America, most numbers of more than three digits take commas here (1,000 and 12,000), and our accountants earn dollars, not pounds sterling (insert appropriate smiley here). This use of "average" rings of business-speak, but not so much that people don't say it. It is the usual way of ex
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Well, all of them are from Cambridge Advanced Learners. I assume it is more British than American. However, "inquiry" means seeking for answer by question, right?
Cambridge:
average /'æv. ? r.?d?/ /-?-/ verb [ T ]


to reach a particular amount as an average

Enquiries to our office average 1000 calls a month.
Many doctors average (= work an average of)
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The spelling "enquire" is more usual in Britain, "inquire" here. It's the same word, and it means to ask, basically.
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OK. I got it, you meant "Enquiries"? right? Thanks, really thanks, because American version is more important for me.
But, what about average?
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EDIT: You edited your last post while I was typing my answer, didn't you? Bad baby.

Your first example was "Enquiries to our office average 1000 calls a month." Americans call to inquire about something, not enquire about it. You were asking about American English. I was just being thorough. I couldn't give you an answer that contained British English.
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Thanks, I haven't mentioned the first of sentence. I thought you are talking about "average". Emotion: smile
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youzouBut, what about average?
I thought I covered "average". The use of "average" in your examples is good American English.
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Yes, you have. Thanks. So it is only used when we are talking about how much time we should spend on the job? Just in that situation?
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At this point even a bonehead like me starts to realize that he's being thick. I'm not sure what you're asking.

The verb "average" is used all the time. It is always used in a numerical context, and it is usually mathematically literal:

I averaged 50 miles an hour on my drive to Saginaw. (The distance to Saginaw in miles divided by the time it took to drive there in hours was 50.
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Please! That was my bad. That was exactly, what I meant. Thank you. You have been very helpful. I'm grateful Emotion: smile
I learnt two thing
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