1

Is the usage of employed incorrect in the following sentence?

A little rail road engine was employed by a station yard for doing small pieces of work.

According to my book it is better to use used in place of employed. But I think employed is also correct because its meaning is to use something as in the following sentence

Official data was employed to obtain final results.

Improve this question
3
  • 1
    It's fine to use employed to mean used, though in that particular context it does sound a little as though the engine was being paid a wage for the work!
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jul 17, 2020 at 10:09
  • 3
    I frequently employ a broom to sweep the floor of my workspace (crumbs, scraps of paper, etc), and I do not issue it with a paycheque each month.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Jul 17, 2020 at 11:52
  • merriam-webster.com/dictionary/employ
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jul 1 at 13:19

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
-1

Working class people somtimes use a vacuum cleaner to clean the inside of their house or apartment.

Hiwever, wealthy individuals employ someone to use a vacuum cleaner on behalf of the wealthy person.

It is grammatically correct to write, "I employed a screwdriver to pry the lid open", but you will sound like an aristocrat.

British and American children know how to "use" a pencil, but only 78 year-old polititians and 64 year-old theoretical physicists know how to employ a writing utencil.

Improve this answer
1

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .