For Half the price sentence

Question

1.     should i say:I bought it FOR/AT half the price.I sold it FOR/AT half the price. which is correct? FOR or AT?2.     i also have another confusion..are the sentences above correct? or is it better to say:I bought if FOR/AT half of its original price.I sold if FOR/AT half of its original price.is it ok to use only HALF THE PRICE? or is it better to use HALF OF ITS ORIGINAL PRICE? or both acceptable?please give me insights.. thank you.

RayH · Accepted Answer

"half the price" sounds odd to me. However, "half price" is okay.
So, "I bought/sold it FOR/AT half price."

The examples in part 2 of your post sound okay.

MrPernickety · Answer

RayH"half the price" sounds odd to me. However, "half price" is okay.

Hi, Ray

The "half price" subject sparked my interest and I took the time to dig up some material on "half the price" in COCA.

Here are a few excrepts that turned up during my search:

You have people working for you at half the price or 1/10 the price overseas

Half the price I pay for them to come from Japan

...nearly half the price of the other two shorts

This gave me a ballpark idea that "half the price" is used only when we define the price (as it was done in the three sentences above).

Do you agree? Or do those sentences still sound odd by you?

Thanks !

RayH · Answer

MrPernicketyThis gave me a ballpark idea that "half the price" is used only when we define the price (as it was done in the three sentences above).

I agree. If the "price", whatever it is, is explicitly mentioned or is understood from the context then "half the price" is fine.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Mr P -
It seems to me that "half the price" is used more in comparative constructions:

The lamb from New Zealand is half the price of European lamb.
The shares can be bought at half the price of what they were last year.

"half price" is used as an adjective, or in self-referencing prepositional phrases:

The shirts are half-price today.
She bought it at / for half-price.
I shop at the half-price ticket store.

MrPernickety · Answer

Thanks for your replies, that was very insighful indeed, I think I got a handle on "half-price" now.

PS: That goes to show that the articles in English is the biggest problem mankind has ever confronted in all of history !

RayH · Answer

MrPernicketyPS: That goes to show that the articles in English is the biggest problem mankind has ever confronted in all of history !

And here I was thinking it was prepositions.

Chiageraldine · Answer

hi sir! so, let me just clarify..

half the price and half the original price are both acceptable?

in the given sentences, the prepositions FOR and AT are also both acceptable?

thanks a lot!

For Half the price sentence

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