cost

«cost» in Mova's school dictionary: to have a price: what you must pay to buy something — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (cost, costs, cost, costing); noun (a cost, costs)

meaning for a pupil

1) To cost is to have a price: what you must pay to buy something. tree →

2) The cost is the price or the amount paid. tree →

3) To cost can mean to make you lose something: «Being late cost us the game». tree →

sense in the lessons

the price of one thing, or of all things bought: the cost of many = the number × the price of one; phrases: «costs N each», «the total cost», «how much does it cost», «at all costs» (no matter what)

examples

• A pencil costs 3 cents. tree →
• Pencils cost 3 cents each. How much do 5 pencils cost? tree →
• The total cost is 24 cents. tree →
• How much does this book cost? tree →
• The tickets cost 8 dollars each. tree →
• The bike cost more than the scooter. tree →
• The cost of food went up this year. tree →
• One mistake cost us the match. tree →
• "Will it cost much, I wonder?" tree →

note

Past: cost (the same). The cost of many = the number × the price of one. Trap: if the total cost and the number are given, the price of one is total ÷ number. «How much» is used with money, not «how many».

In the corpora

• Living in a home costs money every single month, even when nobody buys anything new.
• Hot water costs energy to heat, so long showers cost money and leave less for the next person.
• Own-brand food is often made in a similar way to famous brands but costs less because there is no big advertising.
• Big building jobs often take longer and cost more than planned.
• Each streaming service costs money every month and has different shows; families choose which ones are worth paying for.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «cost» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.