deduct, offset,credit ?

Question

Teachers ,

Please kindly correct my translation below:

a/ A owes me $ 10, and now he sells me a dictionary for $ 15 . After deducting $10 /making a deduction from the amount A owes me , I will only have to pay him $5 .

b/ A owes me $ 10, and now he sells me a dictionary for $ 15 . After offseting $10 against the amount A owes me , I will only have to pay him $5 .

c/A owes me $ 10, and now he sells me a dictionary for $ 15 . After crediting $10 against the amount A owes me , I will only have to pay him $5 .

Are there any differences between deduct , offset and credit ?

Thanks in advance

Hoa Thai · Accepted Answer

Hi,
In the context that you provided, there is no difference in meaning. However, their usage requires some care.
Here is my suggestion to all three sentences that you wrote:

A sells me a dictionary for $15. After deducting / crediting him with / offsetting the cost against $10 he owes me, I have to pay him [only] $5.
Now are my comments to your sentences:
1. You do not need to say and now when all verbs are in present.

2. When two clauses that share the same subject are symmetrical / parrallel, use one subject if possible. The pronoun 'he' is extra.

3. Repetition sometimes is necessary. Generally, unconscientiously done, it bores readers. Do you see that you used 'A owes me' twice?
4. Place the word only close to what it modifies. Ask yourself these questions: Do I only have to pay (i.e. I don't have to do anything else)? or $5 is what I have to pay (i.e., no more no less)?
5. Think about the usage of 'will'. Do you mean sometime in the future? If it is a fact that you must pay $5 regardless of the time, 'will' does not add more information. It might even cause different interpretation.
LESS is MORE.

Monalisatuan · Answer

Thank you ever so much Hoa Thai,

How about if I say these sentences ? Please kindly correct them . I 'm sure they are not correct , but that's the best I can do:

a/ Last week when my payday hadn't come round yet , I had to ask the company to advance me half a month's salary . This afternoon when I get my salary the company will deduct /credit me with / offset the money I owe them against my salary.

b/ I am $ 10 in debt to my boss, so this afternoon when I get my salary , he will deduct my debt into my salary/offset my debt against my salary/ credit me with the money against my salary.

Thanks again and best regards

Hoa Thai · Answer

Monalisatuana/ Last week when my payday hadn't come round yet , I had to ask the company to advance me half a month's salary . This afternoon when I get my salary the company will deduct /credit me with / offset the money I owe them against my salary.

Last week, I had to ask the company to advance me half of my monthly salary. This afternoon, when I get paid, the company

1. deduct what I owe them.
2. credit me with …. This is no good. You cannot be credited with the money you owe!
3. offset what I owe them against my salary.
Note: when you say, "This afternoon, when I get paid," you don't need to qualify with "when my payday hadn't ..." (Redundancy)

b/ I am $ 10 in debt to my boss, so this afternoon when I get my salary , he will deduct my debt into my salary/offset my debt against my salary/ credit me with the money against my salary.

Using the suggestion I shared with you, would you like to give your second sentence another try? I know you can do it!

Monalisatuan · Answer

Thank you very much Hoa Thai. I understand now.

Best regards

Hoa Thai · Answer

MonalisatuanThank you very much Hoa Thai. I understand now.

Best regards

You are welcome!

BTW, Avangi reminded me that the word 'unconscientiously' that I used was an error. It should be 'unconsciously'. As you can see, we all want to help everybody improve.

Hi Avangi,

Thanks for the catch!

Avangi · Answer

Monalisatuan
a/ Last week when my payday hadn't come round yet , I had to ask the company to advance me half a month's salary . This afternoon when I get my salary the company will deduct /credit me with / offset the money I owe them against my salary.

Hi

I'm not sure about British usage, but although "half a month's salary" and "against my salary" sound perfectly natural, "This afternoon when I get my salary" does not. We would say, "This afternoon when I get my check/paycheck," or, "when I'm paid/when I get paid." I've never heard, "when I get my salary." I think of salary as an arrangement - the agreed-upon weekly/monthly/yearly rate, not the actual payment. ("Wages" would be a different thing.)

- A.

Happy to be of service, Hoa Thai

Monalisatuan · Answer

Hi Thai Hoa !

Sorry for troubling you again.When you say

A sells me a dictionary for $15. After deducting / crediting him with / offsetting the cost against $10 he owes me, I have to pay him [only] $5.

Do you mean to say

1/ ....After deducting $10 he owes me, I.....

2/....After crediting him with $10 he owes me, I.....

3/....After offsetting the cost against $10 he owes me, I .... ?

By the way , can I say like this ?:

This worker had his salary deducted because he violated the company regulations

Your explanation would be highly appreciated.

Best Regards

Hoa Thai · Answer

Hi,

YES for all three. Here are the usages:
1. deduct something (from something)
2. credit somebody with something
3. offset something against something

Now regarding the new sentence, "This worker had his salary deducted because he violated the company regulations," This sounds odd.

If it is a one-time $100 fine, as Avangi said earlier, we should use "the company deduct a $100 fine from my pay / paycheck". For salary, we should use reduce / cut not deduct. For example, an employee's annual salary is $10,000. Because he violated the company regulations, his annual salary is reduced / cut by $2,000 (i.e., from this point forward, his salary is $8,000 a year).

In short, the sentence in question could be re-written as follows:

1. The company deducted a fine from this worker's paycheck for his violation against its regulations.
2. The company reduced / cut this worker's salary for his violation against its regulations.

Monalisatuan · Answer

Thank you very much Thai Hoa , I understand now .

So can I say :

1/ This worker had his salary cut/reduced for his violation against its regulations." ?

2/ This worker was subject to a salary cut for his violation against its regulations." ?

Best regards

Hoa Thai · Answer

MonalisatuanThank you very much Thai Hoa , I understand now .

So can I say :

1/ This worker had his salary cut/reduced for his violation against its regulations." ?
The word 'had' carries a 'possession' meanning. The decision of cutting his salary is not his but the company's! Therefore, your sentence sounds odd. If you must keep the phrase 'had his salary cut', I suggest this: "The company had this worker's salary cut/reduced for his violation against its regulations."

2/ This worker was subjected to a salary cut for his violation against its regulations."? 'What does 'its' stand for?

Best regards

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