ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: sell away

Avangi — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:42:51 GMT

New2grammar
what's the difference between sell off and sell away?

Probably not much. "Sell off" is more common, and would be considered a business strategy. "Sell away," as in this case, would be reluctantly getting rid of something. I don't think it would be used much for a single item. I went along with it because of "lands" in the plural. If you say a rancher is selling off / away his herd you think of a few here and a few there, until perhaps they're all gone; as opposed to selling the whole herd in a single deal. (How did I get into this?) But if a guy is selling off his business, I suppose it could be one deal. Selling off his inventory could be a little at a time.

Sorry, I'm too tired to be doing this. I'm not answering your question. - A.

Re: sell away

Abil — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:49:50 GMT

My Oxford Phrasal Verbs Dictionary has an entry for "bear with sb" which means to be patient with sb. Example, If you'll just bear with me for a moment, I'll try to find her.

However, it is true the phrase "bear with sb" does not fit in my sentence.

Thanks Mr. Avangi.

New2G, you have asked a good question.

Re: sell away

New2grammar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:29:47 GMT

Avangi, if you don't mind, what's the difference between sell off and sell away?
Thanks

Re: sell away

Avangi — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:10:25 GMT

Abil
Unable to bear ~~with~~ such harassments, many land owners in that area had to sell (away) their lands to the settlers.

We'd say "unable to put up with such harassmants," but "bear" doesn't require the "with."

In my opinion, "sell away" is okay. It's something like "give away" or "clear away." I'd say "away" is optional, but commonly used.

Best wishes, - A.

sell away

Abil — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:48:18 GMT

Unable to bear with such harassments, many land owners in that area had to sell (away) their lands to the settlers.

Is this sentence correct and understood clearly? Can I say sell away here? The context of the sentence: some villagers have lands in an area near to the settlers. The settlers often harass them in many different ways, such as grazing cows on their paddy fields, destroying the crops etc.

Thanks