Is this sentence grammatically correct "Of course, it cost the companies some money, but also helps increase their profit."? As I know, sometimes, we can use infinite verb with singular subject to emphasize things?
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Are you intending to say it has cost* or will cost or (continuing) it costs?– SrJovenCommented Oct 4, 2014 at 11:34
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2 Answers
To me, it is grammatical, but cost is not infinitive, but past: it is saying that it has already cost the companies some money. (Whether this makes sense or not depends on the context).
For some people, the past of cost is costed, and for them it would not be grammatical.
answered Oct 4, 2014 at 8:59
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1Surely the form costed is always reserved for particular usages? AHDEL has: cost v. cost, costing, costs v.intr. To require a specified payment, expenditure, effort, or loss: It costs more to live in the city. v.tr. 1. To have as a price. 2. To cause to lose, suffer, or sacrifice: Participating in the strike cost me my job. 3. [past tense and past participle costed] To estimate or determine the cost of: The accountants costed out our expenses. // RHK Webster's would be better (if it didn't misnumber). Commented Oct 4, 2014 at 9:06
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Mixing tenses within a sentence (at least without repeating it) is one of the most basic instances of ungrammatical. Commented Oct 4, 2014 at 9:18
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Edwin: Certainly I would use them as per your dictionary excerpt. I have had a look at the corpora, and BNC has 2 instances out of 50, and COCA 2 out of 27 where 'costed' is used as the past of meaning 1 above. So it appears that some people do use it as I've said, but fewer than I thought. Commented Oct 4, 2014 at 9:18
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Tim: absolutely not. I banged my knee and it hurts. I'm looking forward to seeing you, and will meet you at the Station at 2. It started yesterday and is still going on. Commented Oct 4, 2014 at 9:21
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@TimLymington I think we get that reading because we don't know what the antecedent of it is. If "it"= those companies having become part of an industry association, then it cost them money in the past, but helps them increase their profits now/generally. Or so it seem to me ... Commented Oct 4, 2014 at 10:55
The sentence sounds awkward because "cost" is past tense and "helps" is present tense.
To use past tense consistently, the sentence would be, "Of course, it cost the companies some money, but also helped increase their profit." In this example, both the cost and the benefit are in the past.
To use present tense consistently, the sentence would be, "Of course, it costs the companies some money, but also helps increase their profit." Present tense is correct if you are discussing a specific current example; present tense can also be used to discuss a theory or concept in general.
The original sentence, "Of course, it cost the companies some money, but also helps increase their profit" may be correct. The costs are in the past, but the companies are receiving the benefits in the present. The reader must know the meaning of "it" from the context. Even so, the sentence may still sound awkward.
If you want say the costs are in the past and the benefits are ongoing, here is another possibility: "Of course, it cost the companies some money, but continues to increase their profit."
