I want to say someone bought something from someone else
And I want to put it this way
1 edition was sold from/by John to Jenna each for 1 dollar
Which should I use, from or by?
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1You buy an item FROM someone, e.g "Jen bought a new laptop from John"– Mari-Lou ACommented Nov 23, 2021 at 10:00
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@Mari-LouA Yeah i know. What if I want to put this sentence differently. A new laptop was sold by/from john to jen. By or from?– Negar Rezaei NejadCommented Nov 23, 2021 at 10:02
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2In passive constructions you use "by" "The painting was auctioned BY Sotheby's" and The 500-year-old drawing was sold/bought by Mr. Branzino.– Mari-Lou ACommented Nov 23, 2021 at 10:03
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@Mari-LouA thank you <3– Negar Rezaei NejadCommented Nov 23, 2021 at 10:04
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I don't think many native speakers would particularly notice the choice of the less common preposition in local produce is sold by / from the village shop. Granted, from there more strongly implies that whoever grew the vegetables receives most/all of the proceeds after they're bought, whereas by implies the shopkeeper already paid the grower(s) when they delivered their produce. But these are just small nuances that might not apply anyway. On the other hand, no native speaker would ever accept each for 1 dollar here - it has to be for 1 dollar each.– FumbleFingersCommented Nov 23, 2021 at 18:06
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1 Answer
- In the passive construction "by" sounds better than "from".
- "for 1 dollar each" sounds better than "each for 1 dollar"
Which leads to
"1 edition was sold by John to Jenna for 1 dollar each"
In ordinary English prose, you don't include "each" when there's one item. So,
"1 edition was sold by John to Jenna for 1 dollar"
Going further, you might consider replacing the digits with a full word.
"An/One edition was sold by John to Jenna for a/one dollar."
