cost

To talk about the price of something, use the word "cost."

In these sentences and questions, "cost" is a verb:

• How much does this book cost? (present tense)
• It costs $10. (present tense)
• What did your coat cost? (past tense)
• It cost $40. (past tense)
• This is costing us too much money! (present continuous tense)
• The car payments were costing us too much money! (present continuous tense)
• How much has this cost us? (present perfect tense)
• What will this cost? (future tense)
• It’s not going to cost you anything to use this website because it’s free. (going to future tense)

That car cost him a lot of money.

It’s important to note that you can ask about the price or the cost of something in many different ways, but "cost" is a popular irregular verb.

In the next set of sentences and questions, "cost" is a noun:

• What’s the cost for this book? (present tense)
• The cost of the book is $10. (present tense)
• What was the cost for your coat? (past tense)
• The cost was $40. (past tense)

In addition to using "cost" to talk about financial matters, this word is also used when sacrifices or mistakes are made, resulting in some sort of a loss or a trade off.

• Risky driving cost the driver his life.
• The man’s bad behavior cost him his marriage.
• Chronic tardiness to work cost Jennifer her job.
• The costs outweigh the benefits of this move, so we aren’t going to change anything.
• What’s the cost of inaction?
• The cost of living in the United States varies from one city to another. You have to weigh the costs against the benefits.
• There will be a cost for what they have done. (This statement might be made when a group, a company, or a country engages in conflict.)

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Date of publication: January 3, 2017