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Lesson 112 / Costs & calculations
5 phrases · 12 minutes · Look, listen and try.
Work out totals and averages, allow for costs and settle shared bills.
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The two costs amount to five dollars.
The two costs amount to five dollars.
The donations amounted to a hundred dollars.
The donations amounted to a hundred dollars.
Here this describes a total. It can also describe whether something is equivalent in significance to something else.
Cambridge Dictionary · amount to
The two daily amounts average out at five.
The two daily amounts average out at five.
Our weekly costs average out at about twenty dollars.
Our weekly costs average out at about twenty dollars.
Use “at” before the average. The average of 4 and 6 is 5; their total is 10, not 5.
Cambridge Dictionary · average out
Remember to factor in the cost of travel.
Remember to factor in the cost of travel.
We factored the extra time in before making the plan.
We factored the extra time in before making the plan.
The factor may be money, time or another influence. With a pronoun, say “factor it in”.
She dipped into her savings to buy the project book.
She dipped into her savings to buy the project book.
We had to dip into the emergency fund.
We had to dip into the emergency fund.
Use some of the money set aside, not necessarily all of it. The -ing form is “dipping”.
Let us settle up after buying the supplies.
Let us settle up after buying the supplies.
I will settle up with you tomorrow.
I will settle up with you tomorrow.
This can describe settling a bill or a debt. Put the recipient after “with”; a late payment is not required.
The examples were written for this course. Usage was checked against Matt Errey’s book, pages 6, 8, 43, 36, 115. A2–B1 is the course’s intended level.
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Linh shows that costs of 3 and 2 amount to a total of 5.
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Linh finds that two daily amounts, 4 and 6, average out at 5.
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Linh factors in travel costing 2 as well as a ticket costing 4, giving 6.
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Linh dips into her savings to buy a needed project book.
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Read the conversation and find the expressions you have learned.
What do the materials amount to altogether?
What do the materials amount to altogether?
Fifty pounds. That averages out at ten per person.
Fifty pounds. That averages out at ten per person.
Let us factor in delivery before we settle up.
Let us factor in delivery before we settle up.
“Amount to” gives a total; “average out” gives or calculates an average. Totals and averages are different, so state the units and number of items.
Try answering before revealing the suggested answer. This practice is not scored.
The answers below are models. Other answers can also work if they preserve the facts, meaning and structure requested in the task.
Four friends share materials costing forty pounds in total. Delivery adds another eight pounds.
State the materials total using amount to.
The materials amount to forty pounds.
The materials alone total forty pounds, so “amount to forty pounds” excludes the eight-pound delivery charge.
Complete: Including delivery, it averages ___ at twelve pounds each.
out
Including delivery gives £48; dividing by four gives £12, hence “averages out at twelve pounds each”.
Write a reminder before settling the bill.
Factor in delivery before we settle up.
“Factor in delivery” adds the delivery charge before “settle up” completes payment, avoiding an eight-pound shortfall.
The usage comparisons are checked against the Cambridge Dictionary entries linked beside the compared expressions. The additional conversations and exercises are written for this course.
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