questions about the usage of "sell " and pronoun " they"

[QingqingW554]

Dear instructor,
I have question about the word "sell".
I saw some explanition about "sell" as following:
To sell can be used to refer to the SELLER:
The stores sells many books.

To sell can also be used to refer to the ITEM BEING SOLD:
The books in the store sell well.
The conveyed meaning here is that many people purchase the books.

Is this explanation right?
If it is right.
Then, in this sentence" Italian vinthers have cut prices; their wines have been priced to sell, and they do", the pronoun "they " would either refers to wines or vinthers. However, the meaning of both reference is reasonable.

My questions is whether the explanation of the word "sell" is right ? or if it is right, can a sentence has two logical meaning??

Thanks in advance!

[RonPurewal]

yes, 'sell' can mean both of those things.

however, your complaint ('two different meanings') is not valid. in fact, it can be dismissed for any of a whole host of reasons:

1/
...well, common sense.

when you read this sentence, it should be plain that the intended meaning is 'the wines have been priced to sell... and so the wines are selling'.
if you were just reading this sentence like a 'normal' reader—e.g., if you saw it in a book or magazine—you would NEVER think of this alternate explanation, in which 'they' = vintners and 'do' = sell (= put things up for sale).
not in a million thousand hundred billion years.

(yes, i'm making assumptions about you as a reader, but i'm confident that they are valid.)

remember that the gmat NEVER 'plays games with words', and that you will NEVER have to think of 'tricky' interpretations of sentences. never ever ever. don't waste your time.

i wrote about this here:
https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/foru ... ml#p115024

[RonPurewal]

2/
if you use 'sell' to mean 'i sell things', it needs an object (a store SELLS THINGS; it doesn't just 'sell', unless the owner is trying to market a franchise).
in this sentence, 'sell' doesn't have an object, so it's not that kind of 'sell'.

[RonPurewal]

3/
those two kinds of 'sell' are TWO DIFFERENT WORDS.
(in many of the world's languages, they actually ARE two different words. in fact, most central and eastern european languages have different verb forms that exist precisely to separate these two types of meanings. and in western european languages you have the extra 'se'/'si'; e.g., se vendre vs. vendre in french.)

in fact, if two words are spelled the same, but have significantly different functionalities and/or meanings, you should ALWAYS think of them as TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT WORDS.

A grizzly bear just can't bear hot summers. --> this sentence does not contain any word more than once.
After Bob plants plants, he tries to water them well with water from the well. --> this sentence does not contain any word more than once.

i think you get the point. if you write a construction that stands for 'bear' (= an animal), then, obviously, it can't also accidentally mean 'bear' (= tolerate, put up with).
you should think of the two 'sell's—which are, again, completely different words—in the same way. they are two different words. if 'do' means one of them, then it doesn't mean the other one.

...unless you're writing poetry.
GMAC's correct sentences are beautifully written, but they are not poetry.

[RonPurewal]

4/
simple parallelism
The wines are priced to sell, and they do.

this is a nice, compact parallel structure.
how ridiculous would it be if BOTH 'they' AND 'do' actually stood for things outside the structure?

...no.

[RonPurewal]

...and
5/
go back to #1 and read it again.
(:

[QingqingW554]

2/
if you use 'sell' to mean 'i sell things', it needs an object (a store SELLS THINGS; it doesn't just 'sell', unless the owner is trying to market a franchise).
in this sentence, 'sell' doesn't have an object, so it's not that kind of 'sell'.

Thank you , RON !
I got it clearly !

[tim]

Glad to hear it!

[RonPurewal]

2/
if you use 'sell' to mean 'i sell things', it needs an object (a store SELLS THINGS; it doesn't just 'sell', unless the owner is trying to market a franchise).
in this sentence, 'sell' doesn't have an object, so it's not that kind of 'sell'.

Thank you , RON !
I got it clearly !

you're welcome.