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Selling for $40, the gadget will give you great value.

Selling for $40, the gadget may seem expensive at first sight.

In the context of the sentences, there is no particular item that has been sold. Could sold be used in place of selling?

I'd appreciate your help.

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  • There is a particular item, the gadget. Do you mean that it has not been sold yet? That the transaction is not completed?
    – TimR
    Commented Aug 11, 2018 at 17:05
  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo Right. If the sentence occurs in an advertisement and it means "available at a particular price," could "sold" be used in place of "selling"?
    – Apollyon
    Commented Aug 12, 2018 at 2:12
  • Can a cookbook say This dish is served with rice if the meal hasn't even been prepared yet?
    – TimR
    Commented Aug 12, 2018 at 9:42
  • Maybe, but I don't really know. And I am not sure if the context is the same as the OP.
    – Apollyon
    Commented Aug 12, 2018 at 12:45
  • The item being sold is one of many exactly like it. Items exactly like this one are sold for $40. That is, whenever a purchase occurs involving one of them, the selling price is $40.
    – TimR
    Commented Aug 12, 2018 at 12:50

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Yes, because "sell" is an ergative verb.

We can say "I sell the gadget for £40", and "The gadget sells for £40". This type of verb in which a secondary meaning of "sell" is "be sold" is called an ergative verb.

So you can say "Sold for £40..." (using the normal passive) or "Selling for £40" (using the ergative)

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  • But in the context of the sentences, there is no particular item that has been sold. Cold sold still be used?
    – Apollyon
    Commented Aug 11, 2018 at 7:21
  • That demerit wasn't from me, by the way.
    – Apollyon
    Commented Aug 11, 2018 at 9:35
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    I would say that the "gadget" is the particular item. The past participle indicates the price that it "is sold" for (whether or not it "has sold" at that price)
    – James K
    Commented Aug 11, 2018 at 10:22
  • In common usage, "sold for" would typically be applied to something for which there is more than a single unit of the item for sale. It refers to the usual selling price of the item. It isn't typically used when referring to a one-off item offered for sale.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Aug 11, 2018 at 19:37

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