In today’s commercialized world it becomes almost impossible to not come across the terms like ‘sell’ and ‘sale’. These two terms are used extensively to imply varied meanings. ‘Sell’ is the term that refers to the act of giving or handing over something in the exchange of money. ‘Sale’ on the other hand refers to the process of selling. It broadly means to sell the overall good available for buying for the consumers.
‘Sell’ can be used as a noun and a verb where it has different meanings whereas ‘Sale’ is the term that is used as a noun to imply different meanings.
Sell vs Sale
The main difference between sell and sale is that the term ‘sell’ refers to transfer goods or render services in exchange for money whereas ‘sale’ is used to denote the act of selling or disposal of goods at a reduced price.
Usually, these two words are often confused in their usage and are used interchangeably but only to depict different meanings altogether.
Comparison Table Between Sell and Sale (in Tabular Form)
| Parameters of comparison | ‘Sell’ | ‘Sale’ |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ‘Sell’ is the term that is used to denote the transfer of ownership or commodity for the exchange of money. | ‘Sale’ is used to depict the act of selling something. It means to dispose of the goods and services to get money. |
| Usage | ‘Sell’ is used both as a verb and noun to imply varied meanings. | ‘Sale’ is used as a noun to refer to the process of selling goods and services. |
| Multiplicity of meaning | Apart from the usual meaning the term also means to persuade the customers to buy certain goods and services. | This term is also used to depict a period when the shop or the owner sells goods at a reduced price than normal |
| Synonyms | Other terms that can be used as the replacement for the term ‘sell’ are- vend, trade, exchange, bartering, promotion, etc. | Other word replacements for the term ‘sale’ are- selling, vending, bargaining, dealing, etc. |
| Examples | Some of the examples to depict usage are as follows: · I want to sell my farmhouse. · Will you sell these books to me? | Some of the examples to denote the usage of the term are: · The biggest brand has all the footwear at the sale tomorrow. · This week the sale of dresses was good. |
When to Use Sell?
‘Sell’ is the term that is widely used in the context of exchange of ownership or possession for money. It also means to persuade consumers to buy certain goods and services. It can also be called the bartering of the goods and other commodities for the equivalent value in money.
The term is used in varied forms that are, used as a verb as well as a noun. The usage of the terms is depicted as follows to represent the multiplicity of the meaning.
As a verb:
- To give or hand over something in return for money.
- To persuade someone of the merits of the product or services.
As a noun:
- The attempt at selling something.
This can be made clear by the help of following examples:
- I want to sell my old car at a fair price.
- He has sold the idea of a startup plan.
- This store sells all the popular books.
- Can you help me to sell out my house?
When to Use Sale?
‘Sale’ is the term that is used in more than one context. It is used to denote the process or the act of selling goods and services in the exchange of money. In addition to it, the same term is also used to depict the period when the shop or the dealer of the goods sell the services at a lower or the reduced price.
The term ‘Sale’ is used only as a noun and the usage of the term is depicted as follows.
As a noun:
- The act of selling something.
- The period when the goods and services are sold at a reduced price than usual.
Other word replacements for the term can be dealing, bargaining, disposal, trading, etc.
Some of the examples to have a clear understanding of the term are listed below:
- The latest shoe collection is on sale these days.
- The sale of the clothing section went below average this time.
- The businessman made a profit through this sale.
Main Differences Between Sell and Sale
- ‘Sell’ is the term that is used to depict the transfer of the goods and the commodities in exchange for money whereas ‘Sale’ is broadly used to refer to the act of selling goods and services.
- ‘Sell’ is used as both a verb and a noun whereas ‘Sale’ is used just as a noun.
- ‘Sell’ can also mean to persuade consumers to buy particular goods and services whereas ‘Sale’ can also mean the period when goods are sold at a low rate than usual.
- The word replacement for ‘sell’ can be trade, vend, bargain, etc whereas other words that can depict ‘sale’ are selling, vending, dealing, disposal, etc.
- Selling goods always precedes the action of sale.
Conclusion
‘Sell’ and ‘Sale’ are two terms that used multiple times in our everyday lives. Everything that we consume or buy revolves around these terms. They are often used interchangeably but only to imply varied differences.
‘Sell’ is used to depict the transfer of someone’s ownership or possession to others in return for money. It can also mean to convince someone to buy particular goods and services. ‘Sale’ on the other hand denotes the act of selling goods and services. It can also mean a particular time when the goods are sold at a discounted or reduced rates.
Another point of difference between the two terms is that the term ‘sell’ is used as both a noun and a verb whereas ‘sale’ is used only as a noun.
The synonyms for the term ‘sell’ can be put up for sale, auction off, get rid of, vending, etc whereas for the term ‘sale’ they can be disposed of, dealing, trading, etc.
References
- https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sell
- https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sale