student asking question

Is it general to put a person next to "cost"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

In this context, "cost" is the amount that was paid or used to obtain something. We can understand the sentence to mean that Dan paid $100 for the items. The word "cost" commonly precedes a noun (person), as it is used to indicate that the person being spoken about has paid X to receive those items. Ex: My dinner costed me $100. Ex: The car costed Diana $50,000. In many cases, "cost" does not refer to a monetary value but the effort, loss, or sacrifice given to achieve or obtain something Ex: John's busy job gave him a high income, but it cost him his marriage. Ex: Diana was told her unhealthy lifestyle would cost her her health.

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