Meaning & use
sell sold sold
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
to give something to someone who pays money for it; to offer goods for people to buy
Grammar: Can take an object (sell a car) or stand alone (the house sold quickly). The past tense and past participle are both sold.
Patterns
- sell something
- sell something to someone
- sell for an amount
- sell at a price
She sold her old bike for fifty dollars.
They sell fresh bread at the corner shop every morning.
The company sold more than a million phones last year.
verbintransitive
to be bought in a particular quantity or at a particular price
Grammar: No object; the subject is the item being sold: the tickets sold well.
Patterns
- sell well
- sell badly
- sell for an amount
The new novel is selling well in bookshops.
Small cars sell better when fuel is expensive.
verbtransitiveinformal
to persuade someone that an idea or plan is good
Grammar: Takes an object, often an idea or plan: sell the idea to the team.
Patterns
- sell something to someone
- sell someone on something
He managed to sell the plan to his managers.
You'll have to sell me on the benefits before I agree.
Word forms
| base form | sell |
|---|---|
| third person singular | sells |
| past tense | sold |
| past participle | sold |
| -ing form | selling |
Common combinations
- sell well
- The book sold well in its first month.
- sell out
- The concert sold out in minutes.
- sell for
- The painting sold for a record price.
- sell to
- We only sell to registered customers.
- sell at a loss
- They had to sell at a loss to clear the stock.
Synonyms and how they differ
- market
- More formal and focuses on promoting goods; sell is the everyday word for the actual exchange of money.
- trade
- Often suggests exchanging goods rather than simply selling for money.
- offer
- Means making something available to buy, but does not say whether anyone buys it.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: sell sold sold or sale? sell sold sold or sold?
sell sold sold vs sale
Sale is a noun (a sale, for sale); sell is the verb (they sell cars).
sell sold sold vs sold
Sold is only the past tense or past participle of sell, not the base form.
Practice
Which sentence uses the correct form of sell?
Choose one answer.
The past tense of sell is sold, so 'They sold their house' is correct. 'Selled' is not a word, and 'have sell' and 'are sell' need sold or selling.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sell sold sold”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.