When selling used goods, people sometimes use phrase 'used twice' or 'never used' to answer questions like 'How many times have you used it'.
Is there any formal phrase for this case if 'number of use' is not correct one to describe it?
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1 Answer
It is unclear to me why you would have to use such a construction at all, but "extent of wear" might be an equivalent. You need to specify in what kind of a sentence you want to use this.
"Number of use" is incorrect because "use" is not a countable noun. E. g., "the reason behind her constant use of the phone was sitting beside her" [source]
"Number of uses" would be correct, because now we are using a different sense of the word "use", one in which it is countable.
However, when I'm buying something used, I rarely expect the person selling it to remember exactly how many times s/he used it. I would ask this person,
Has this item been used a lot?
If you are selling something, you would say "only slightly used."
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I am actually building a table for describing certain goods which can be used for total 10 times, and if it reaches 10, it won't be usable. So i'm trying to find the eligible column name for that. 'extent of wear' sounds like it only applies to clothing.– ringordFeb 1, 2018 at 16:01
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@ringord Say "use count" if you need to be brief. A more expanded version would be "The number of times (that) X has been used"– user68912Feb 1, 2018 at 16:03
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@ringord "Extent of wear" could apply also to car parts, or whatever. But of course, in the context you provided, it is inapplicable. Next time when you ask a question, provide all the context up front. Things in language really depend on context.– user68912Feb 1, 2018 at 16:05