Buy and Pay
2021-04-10
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a request from a reader in Guinea.
2Here is the request:
3Dear VOA, I'm Adama from Enta in Guinea. I would like to know the difference between "buy" and "pay."
4Thanks for your service!
5Hello Adama, we are happy to be of service.
6I'm also glad that you asked about "buy" and "pay."
7As a native English speaker, I had never thought about the difference.
8Because of your question, I learned something new!
9Here is what I learned: We can use "buy" or "pay" to talk about using money, but each word has a different focus.
10The verb "buy" means to get something by paying for it.
11The verb "pay" means to give money in exchange for goods or services.
12Listen to these examples and think about the difference between the two words:
13I just bought a used motorbike.
14I paid $900 for the motorbike.
15The musician bought a Mexican guitar.
16She paid for the guitar with her credit card.
17Is he going to buy us lunch?
18Is he going to pay our bill?
19Did you catch the difference?
20The verb "buy" puts the focus on the thing you are purchasing.
21The verb "pay" brings attention to the money that is being exchanged.
22"Pay" can also bring attention to the process.
23For example, the musician used a credit card to purchase the guitar.
24You may have also noticed that the preposition "for" can appear after the verb "pay."
25We say "pay for" to talk about a thing or event we give money for and receive at the same time.
26But when we use "pay" (without "for"), we are talking about the person or thing we are giving money to.
27 You can pay a person, for example.Or you can pay a bill for goods or services that you already received.
28And that's Ask a Teacher for this week.
29I'm Alice Bryant.
1This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a request from a reader in Guinea. Here is the request: 2Question: 3Dear VOA, I'm Adama from Enta in Guinea. I would like to know the difference between "buy" and "pay." Thanks for your service! 4-Adama, Guinea 5Answer: 6Hello Adama, we are happy to be of service. 7I'm also glad that you asked about "buy" and "pay." As a native English speaker, I had never thought about the difference. Because of your question, I learned something new! 8Buy vs. pay 9Here is what I learned: We can use "buy" or "pay" to talk about using money, but each word has a different focus. The verb "buy" means to get something by paying for it. The verb "pay" means to give money in exchange for goods or services. 10Listen to these examples and think about the difference between the two words: 11I just bought a used motorbike. 12I paid $900 for the motorbike. 13The musician bought a Mexican guitar. 14She paid for the guitar with her credit card. 15Is he going to buy us lunch? 16Is he going to pay our bill? 17Did you catch the difference? The verb "buy" puts the focus on the thing you are purchasing. The verb "pay" brings attention to the money that is being exchanged. "Pay" can also bring attention to the process. For example, the musician used a credit card to purchase the guitar. 18Pay for vs. pay 19You may have also noticed that the preposition "for" can appear after the verb "pay." We say "pay for" to talk about a thing or event we give money for and receive at the same time. 20But when we use "pay" (without "for"), we are talking about the person or thing we are giving money to. You can pay a person, for example. Or you can pay a bill for goods or services that you already received. 21And that's Ask a Teacher for this week. 22I'm Alice Bryant. 23Alice Bryant wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 24_________________________________________________________________ 25Words in This Story 26glad -adj. feeling pleasure, joy or happiness 27focus -n. a main purpose or interest 28guitar -n. a musical instrument usually with six strings that is held against the body and played with the fingers or with a pick 29bill -n. a document that states how much you owe for a good or service