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second-hand

mimi2

Senior Member
vietnam vietnamese
Hi,
“Oh, that’s the MGf Tim has bought second-hand. How much did he pay for it?”
I am wondering if “second-hand” was placed correctly in this sentence?
Thanks.
Hi, Trisia 👁 Smile :)

Let me ask you 👁 Smile :)

I think if I wrote this sentence, I would place "second-hand" before a noun.
Why not?
Well, I'd be inclined to say he's bought it from a second-hand store, or it's a second-hand item.

But I've seen many examples of this usage, so I guess I simply got used to it. I have no idea if it's actually correct (since second-hand is supposed, after all, to be an adjective).
Trisia:
Thank you very much.
Please let me ask you one more question: how did you understand the sentence after reading it?
Something along the lines of:
"Oh, that's the used car Tim bought. How much did it cost?"
Hi. Saying you bought something "second-hand" is quite acceptable.
E.g. I bought the sofa second-hand.
Hi Trisia,
Since no one came back on your suggestion that second-hand should come before a noun...
quite true, when it is being used as an adjective.
But here it is an adverb -- it describes the manner of buying the car. Quite clearly, both new and second-hand actually describe the car rather than the buying of it, but grammatically it modifies the verb. It is an example of the rather sloppy thinking that is to be found everywhere in our language: we don't actually say what we mean, we say that which will cause the listener to understand what we think we mean (usually!).
Hi Mimi

Second-hand is a term meaning that that the item in question already has previously been sold at retail. We, in the U.S., tend to say a "used" automobile, although in this world of spin and euphemism, such vehicles sometimes are called "pre-owned."

In reality, automobiles called "second-hand" may actually have changed hands multiple times. If it's important to emphasize that Tim is really only the second owner, I would word the sentence somewhat differently.

In the case of the MGF, the model was introduced in 1995 and apparently became the MG TF in 2002 (see http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/group1/info/mgf_history.htm) and as such, "second-hand" or "used" probably is obvious.

These are nuances, of course. Your original sentence is quite understandable.

As a further note that might be of interest, Barbara Streisand, the American singer, had a popular song a while back called "Second-hand Rose" The lyrics are here.
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