"in $3000" or "for $3000"

Question

sometimes i am quite confused about whether to use "in" or "for", i hope someone would help me clear my confusion................... this is very important to me... thanks

for example... in this case, let's talk ONLY about grammar but not the meaning.

A. " the machine will be sold for $3000"

or B "the machine will be sold in $3000"

i am not sure if both, either or neither of these two sentences is grammatically correct..........

i think A should be correct, and it means " i will pay $3000 exact to get the machine..."

and I think B is also correct , but it will mean " i will pay $3000 exact or less than $3000 to get the machine...

ok, but i am not sure if my thought is correct. i hope someone would correct....

i know " i will get it in one day ..." that mean i will get it in the very near future, not more than 24 hours..."

but i don't know if this applies to money too.

thanks!!!!

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

kenny1999A. " the machine will be sold for $3000"
or B "the machine will be sold in $3000"

A is fine.

B is wrong.

kenny1999and I think B is also correct , but it will mean " i will pay $3000 exact or less than $3000 to get the machine...

No. To say this:

The machine will be sold for $3000 or less.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

kenny1999A. " the machine will be sold for $3000"
or B "the machine will be sold in $3000"

Normal collocation is "sold for $***". "In $3000" sounds odd.

Your sentence has some syntactical issues. "Will be sold" is future passive. The machine will be sold for $3000" is grammatical, though without additional context, I am confused. Are you speaking as a buyer or seller. If you are the seller, how can you predict it will be sold for that price? Unless you are a prophet. But as a buyer, I can't see one saying that. What sounds possible:

Seller: This painting will not be sold for lass than $3000. = I won't sell it for less than $3000.

Buyer: It's not in very good condition, I don't think it can be sold for your asking price, perhaps $2000.

Appraiser: This painting will be sold to the highest bidder.

kenny1999i know " i will get it in one day ..." that mean i will get it in the very near future, not more than 24 hours..."..

Yes, in 24 hours as a promise a salesman made to a customer. I prefer, "I can get it in one day" though. However, if you try to infer to distant time, you should say " I will be successful......one day/ someday"

CalifJim · Answer

kenny1999A. " the machine will be sold for $3000"
or B "the machine will be sold in $3000"
i am not sure if both, either or neither of these two sentences is grammatically correct..
i think A should be correct, and it means " i will pay $3000 exact to get the machine..."
and I think B is also correct , but it will mean " i will pay $3000 exact or less than $3000 to get the machine...

Only "sold for $3000" is correct. Verbs which involve the exchange of money typically use the preposition for.

I bought it for $3000. / I sold it for $3000. / I paid $3000 for it.

kenny1999i know " i will get it in one day ..." that mean i will get it in the very near future, not more than 24 hours..."
but i don't know if this applies to money too.

No. It does not apply to money.

CJ

Kenny1999 · Answer

Hello, thanks for your reply but i am also a bit confused... sorry i am non-English speaker...

while it is possible for you to say "The machine will not be sold for less than $3000" as you described..

why is it strange or confusing to say "The machine will be sold for $3000", for the first one, as you are a seller, you won't sell your machine for less than $3000... (this is something you can control)

so, why isn't it possible to say "The machine will be sold for $3000...." what i mean is "The machine is worth $3000..."

or "I, as a seller, would only sell the machine at this price..." Can't it be right?

Thanks and look forward to your discussion. Thanks

Dimsumexpress · Answer

kenny1999so, why isn't it possible to say "The machine will be sold for $3000.." what i mean is "The machine is worth $3000..."
or "I, as a seller, would only sell the machine at this price..." Can't it be right?

Hi,
I am not a teacher so I can't explain the reason in academic terms. But I will try. When we say "will", we are making a suggestion that we know something is very highly probable. for example: My son is coming back to morning from London. I talked to him last night on the phone. His flight is arriving at 11 am. When you are selling something, it is suspicously illogical to tell someone that certain item will be sold for x amount of money before it is sold. Even though you explained what you meant was that's how much you thought the machine was worth. A learner needs to develop a syntactical sense when constructing sentences. If the words you selected to use do not express the intended meaning adequately in the context, then you may create confusion in the process.

As a seller, you believed that the machine is worht $3000. Then what I stated in previous post was true.

This machine will not be sold for less than .....(because you will not accept any bid less than $3000).

AlpheccaStars · Answer

We are talking about English grammar - the seller may want to sell a machine for a certain price, so he can say any of the following:

The machine will be sold for $3000.

I will not sell it for less than $3000.

The machine is worth at least $3000, so I am confident that it will be sold for $3000.

I won't take a penny less than $3000 for it.

The machine might not sell in the next few months because there are not many buyers for this kind of machine.

If I still have the machine at the end of the year, I will reduce the price from $3000 to $2999.

If I can't sell the machine for $3000, I will use it myself.

Anonymous · Answer

the machine will be sold in the 2500 - 3000 dollar range

the machine will be sold within the price range of 2500 to 3000 dollars

Mister Micawber · Answer

This is correct and natural:

The machine will be sold in the $2500 – $3000 range.

PS: Oops! For some reason, I thought this thread had no replies.

Anonymous · Answer

Mister MicawberPS: Oops! For some reason, I thought this thread had no replies.

Great minds think alike, Mister Micawber, or... in the same range.

"in $3000" or "for $3000"

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