Virtuous English AcademyShopping & Money — A2 English Vocabulary
This A2 vocabulary list gathers 30 elementary English words about shopping & money — buying, paying and managing your money. Every word comes with a simple definition, its British-English pronunciation and a natural example sentence, so you learn each one in real context. When you are ready, open the flashcards to practise and remember them for good.
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Using shopping & money words in English
Money verbs in English are unusually strict about what has to follow them. Spend needs a preposition that changes depending on whether you are spending money or time. Afford almost never appears without can or could in front of it. And save carries two meanings that sit side by side on this list. The nouns are easier, though receipt has a silent p that catches out even confident readers.
What to watch out for
Spend money on, but spend time doing
With money the preposition is on and a noun follows: I spent forty pounds on shoes. With time there is no preposition and an -ing verb follows: I spent an hour looking for a bargain. Mixing the two — spend money for shoes, spend time to look — is one of the most common errors at this level, and both halves are worth drilling as separate patterns.
Afford needs can or could
English almost never uses afford on its own. Say I cannot afford it, Can you afford a new laptop?, We could not afford to go. A bare I afford it sounds wrong to a native ear. Note also that afford takes either a noun or a full infinitive with to, never an -ing form: I cannot afford to buy it, not afford buying it.
Cheap can be an insult, and save has two jobs
Cheap often suggests poor quality as well as low price, so a shop assistant will say inexpensive or good value. A bargain is the positive word: low price, good quality. Meanwhile save means both keeping money for later — I am saving for a car — and paying less than you would have: You save ten pounds in the sale. The two meanings almost never get confused in context, but only one of them takes for.
Words learners mix up
The first table is the pair of verbs that most languages cover with one, the second is four ways of talking about what something costs, and the third is what a shop says when the price comes down.
Borrow, lend and owe
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| borrow | To take something for a while and give it back. It comes towards you, and the source takes from. | Can I borrow ten pounds from you? |
| lend | To give something for a while and get it back. It goes away from you. Past tense lent. | She lent me her umbrella. |
| owe | To still have to pay somebody back. Two objects and no preposition: owe somebody money. | I still owe my brother twenty pounds. |
| pay | To give money. You pay a person, pay for a thing, and pay by card or in cash. | I will pay for the tickets. |
The fastest way to keep the first two apart is by direction: borrow brings the thing towards you and lend sends it away, so the bank lends and you borrow. Note the small pattern in pay as well — you pay the waiter but you pay for the meal, and dropping that for is the commonest slip on this list after the borrow-and-lend pair itself.
Four words for what it costs
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| price | The amount written on the label. A noun only, so it cannot be used as a verb in everyday speech. | The price has gone up again. |
| cost | Noun and verb both. As a verb it takes no preposition and does not change in the past: it cost forty pounds. | How much does it cost? |
| value | What something is worth set against what you paid. Good value means worth the money, whatever the price was. | It was not cheap, but it is good value. |
| quality | How well something is made. Uncountable in this use: good quality, poor quality. | The quality of these shoes is excellent. |
The two questions people actually ask are How much does it cost? and How much is it? — What is its price? is grammatical but reads like a form. And notice that value and quality are judgements rather than amounts, which is why something can be expensive and still be good value.
When the price comes down
| Word | What it actually means | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| sale | A period when a shop lowers its prices. In the sale means during one; on sale and for sale are different again. | I bought this coat in the sale. |
| discount | An amount taken off the normal price, usually given as a percentage. | Students get a ten per cent discount. |
| refund | Money given back when you return something. The verb exists, but the everyday phrase is get a refund. | They gave me a full refund. |
| budget | The amount you have decided you can spend. You are on a budget and things are within it. | A new laptop is not in my budget this month. |
The three sale phrases repay a minute of attention: for sale means available to buy at all, as on a house; on sale means available now, and in American English also means reduced; in the sale is British and means bought during a reduced-price period. A refund normally needs the receipt, which is why British shops print please keep your receipt along the bottom of it.
Collocations that sound natural
A British shop transaction is almost entirely fixed phrases — paying, keeping the paper, and standing in the right place. These six carry nearly all of it.
cash
pay in cashcash onlya cash machinerun out of cash
The preposition changes with the method: pay in cash but pay by card. The machine in the wall is a cash machine or cashpoint in Britain and an ATM in America.
receipt
keep the receiptask for a receipta receipt for the jacketwithout a receipt
Say ri-SEET — the p is completely silent. Most British shops will not take an item back without one, so the phrase on the sign is worth reading.
discount
get a discounta ten per cent discounta student discountat a discount
budget
on a tight budgetstick to a budgeta monthly budgetgo over budget
It also works as an adjective meaning cheap and basic: a budget airline, budget accommodation.
queue
join the queuea long queuejump the queuequeue up
Jumping the queue — walking in front of people who were already waiting — is close to the worst thing a person can do in a British shop.
brand
a well-known branda brand nameown-brandbrand new
Brand new is a fixed phrase meaning completely new and has nothing to do with brands. Own-brand products are the supermarket’s own cheaper version of something.
Where each word belongs
Four of these are everyday British words that mean something else, or nothing, to an American. The last two are a noun that changes when you split it in half and a verb whose phrase has to be learned whole.
- trolleyBritishThe wheeled basket you push round a supermarket. Americans say cart or shopping cart. The small one you carry is a basket in both varieties.
- purseBritish ≠ AmericanIn British English a purse holds coins and cards, and the bag over the shoulder is a handbag. In American English purse means the handbag itself. A man’s is a wallet either side of the Atlantic.
- queueBritishThe line of people waiting. Americans say line and stand in line. British English also uses it as a verb — we queued for an hour — and the spelling, with four vowels trailing the q, is worth memorising on its own.
- checkoutOne word as a nounThe checkout is where you pay, and you queue at it. Split into two words it becomes a verb with a different job — check out of a hotel — and the machines you operate yourself are self-checkouts.
- coinCountable · beside <em>notes</em>Metal money is coins and paper money is notes in British English. Americans say bills, which in Britain means the thing you pay in a restaurant. Change covers the coins in your pocket and is uncountable.
- wasteVerb and nounYou waste money on something, and the noun phrase is a waste of money — with of, and with a in front. It is waste of money and waste money for are the two versions to avoid.
Sentences to try
Four frames with the prepositions built in. Change the amounts and the things until they are true for you.
- I spent twenty pounds on a new wallet.
- These shoes were expensive, but they were a bargain in the sale.
- I cannot afford to buy it this month.
- Keep the receipt in case you want a refund.
Questions about shopping & money vocabulary
Do I say "spend money on" or "spend money for"?
On. The pattern is spend + amount + on + noun: She spends a lot of money on books. For is wrong here, although it feels natural to speakers of many other languages. Time works differently again: with time there is no preposition and the next verb takes -ing, as in I spend an hour reading every evening. Keeping the two frames apart — on + noun for money, nothing + -ing for time — solves most of the errors learners make with this verb.
What is the difference between cheap and inexpensive?
They describe the same price but carry different feelings. Cheap frequently implies that the quality is poor as well — cheap shoes that fell apart — so calling somebody’s purchase cheap can sound rude. Inexpensive is neutral and slightly formal, which is why shops and advertisements prefer it. If you want to praise something that cost little, the natural words are a bargain, good value or reasonably priced. Cheap is perfectly fine about yourself: I bought a cheap ticket.
How do I ask for a refund in a shop?
The usual frame is I would like a refund, please, or more softly Would it be possible to get a refund? You will almost always be asked for the receipt, so keep it. If you want a different item instead of money back, the word is exchange: Could I exchange this for a larger size? Note that the verb is refund as well as the noun — They refunded my money — and that the p in receipt is silent.