principally cost

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "principally cost" is not correct in standard written English.
It seems to be an incomplete expression and may be intended to convey a focus on cost as a primary factor. Example: "The project was principally cost-driven, leading to several compromises in quality."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

News & Media

Science

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

1 human-written examples

Because it's easy, because people like to have houses there – and because we encourage the building of houses on floodplains for several reasons, principally cost and aesthetics.

The Guardian

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

56 human-written examples

Our results also show that the largest factor influencing the level of profitability is attributed to access costs (principally roading costs).

Forest Policy and Economics

In clinical terms, the choice of a biologic agent in CD or UC seems now to depend on patient preference of route of administration and on availability (this latter depends principally on cost considerations).

ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research

The money is expected to principally defray costs of education programs and neuropsychological testing for athletes.

The New York Times - Sports

SMRs aim to capture the advantages of nuclear power – always-on, low-carbon energy – while avoiding the problems, principally the vast cost and time taken to build huge plants.

The Guardian

Principally the high cost of development and the need for expert facilitators for running game sessions.

Procedia Computer Science

Many Americans remain offline, principally because of cost.

Huffington Post

Principally, the friction cost method will be applied to quantify these production losses (in practice though, the length of the friction period at the time of analysis presumably will be longer than the planned follow-up period of patients).

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

Practical issues are principally the increasing cost of clinical development and the availability of patients required to satisfy the statistical power of each study [ 22] (i.e. these criteria cannot be applied to paediatric patients with rare diseases).

European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology

Inheriting a $10 million deficit, he cut costs, principally by shrinking the staff to around 950 from 1,100.

The New York Times - Arts

Its income, however, rose by £310m - and more than half of that was eaten up by rising costs, principally the huge bonuses.

The Guardian - Business

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Instead of using the incomplete phrase "principally cost", opt for clearer alternatives like "mainly cost" or "primarily due to cost" to improve clarity and grammatical correctness.

Common error

Ensure phrases are grammatically complete. "Principally cost" is an incomplete thought; clarify it by adding context such as "principally due to cost" or "mainly in terms of cost" to ensure the sentence conveys the intended meaning effectively.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "principally cost" functions as an incomplete adjectival phrase, attempting to modify a noun by indicating that cost is the primary factor. As Ludwig AI explains, this construction is not grammatically correct and needs further context to be meaningful.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

News & Media

38%

Science

62%

Formal & Business

0%

Less common in

Academia

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "principally cost" is identified by Ludwig AI as grammatically incorrect and an incomplete expression. While the intention is to convey that cost is the primary factor, it requires additional context to be grammatically sound. More effective alternatives include "mainly cost" or "primarily due to cost". The phrase appears rarely and is found in both News & Media and Science sources. To ensure clarity and correctness, it is advisable to use more complete and grammatically correct alternatives in both formal and informal writing.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

mainly cost

Replaces 'principally' with 'mainly' to emphasize cost as the main factor, offering a simpler and more direct expression.

primarily cost

Substitutes 'principally' with 'primarily' to indicate cost as the most important or fundamental aspect.

largely cost

Uses 'largely' instead of 'principally' to convey that cost is a significant or major factor.

chiefly cost

Replaces 'principally' with 'chiefly' to suggest that cost is the most important or dominant element.

mostly cost

Employs 'mostly' instead of 'principally' to indicate that cost is the primary but not exclusive consideration.

predominantly cost

Uses 'predominantly' to emphasize that cost is the most noticeable or prevalent factor.

primarily due to cost

Adds 'due to' to clarify that cost is the reason or cause for something, creating a more complete phrase.

mainly because of cost

Incorporates 'because of' to explicitly state that cost is the reason or explanation.

primarily a matter of cost

Frames cost as the main issue or concern, using a more descriptive structure.

the major cost factor

Rephrases the idea to highlight cost as the most significant contributing element.

FAQs

What does "principally" mean?

"Principally" means mainly or chiefly. It indicates the primary reason or factor in a situation.

What can I say instead of "principally"?

You can use alternatives like "mainly", "primarily", or "chiefly" depending on the context.

Is it correct to say "principally cost"?

While "principally" relates to something being the main factor, using "principally cost" alone is incomplete. It's better to say "principally due to cost" or "mainly because of cost" for grammatical correctness.

How can I use "principally" in a sentence about expenses?

You could say, "The increase in expenses was "principally due to rising energy prices"", which is more grammatically sound than simply stating "principally cost".