Korean Job Discussion Forums

[aloysha]

I was asked a question by my CT today concerning sentence (a)
I said that it sounds awkward and I would not write it that way.
I suggested (b) (c) and less frequently (d). I said I would check
and get back to her with a more informative answer, or correction,
with respect to my suggestions.


Am I correct or mistaken in my assumptions ? If I am right, why is
(a) incorrect ?


(a) He is in the second grade of middle school.


(b) He is in his second year of middle school.
(c) He is a second grade middle school student.
(d) He is a second year middle school student.

Thanks in advance.

[Ya-ta Boy]

In my opinion, 'He is in the second grade of middle school' is perfectly acceptable.

It would be incomprehensible if it just said, 'He's in the second grade' since we count all 12 grades consecutively. Here in Korea they start over with each of the levels. Nothing wrong with that as long as the sentence has the extra information to make it clear.

(It's a usage question, not a grammar question.)

[aloysha]

Fair enough, the thing that I should note is that when I asked her
why she thought it was incorrect she said she was told by a teacher
trainer during some course that it was incorrect. Now, the teacher
trainer may simply be mistaken, but there is just something about
(a) that doesn�t sit right�.

Yata, I too feel that it comes down to usage, but I was not sure.

Anymore takers ?

[schwa]

(a) (b) (c) & (d) are all correct.

It bugs me that sometimes a Korean teacher hears some assertion from one foreign "expert" & it becomes a point of argument forever thenceforth.

Or mishears something. The original instructor might have been talking about university, where "grade" doesnt factor in, only "year." Or something else misconstrued.

Usages do vary in different countries. What sounds "wrong" or "awkward" to one native speaker might be perfectly apt to another. Beware making definitive pronouncements about the language. Many Koreans take them as gospel.

[aloysha]

Even though it sounded slightly awkward to me, I could not identify
a grammatical violation in (a) and told her that my suggestions
can be attributed to my preference, but I thought I could have
been mistaken.

Given my CT's speaking and listening level, she may well have
misunderstood the point being made, as you noted.


Thank you for the replies.....

[Jammer113]

[GreenlightmeansGO]

If any of them are to be seen as incorrect, I would choose C, as it is ambiguous - it could mean that he is not amongst the best students in the entire middle school. It could mean that he is 'second-rate' (as in 'not-so-good') and have nothing to do with what year/grade he is in.

[warren pease]

He is in his second year of middle school

[mole]

Heejuh een meedeol suhKool, two guh rayee duh.

[aloysha]

Green light, that�s a valid point. However, the context would quickly
clear up that ambiguity. For the youngins it standard to report age, school
and grade etc. It would be less likely, in my view, someone would be
commenting on the academic status or level of another student. The
distinction you noted, I would save for more advanced students.

Jammer, The problem you noted was something I explained to my CT
as well. Yet she didn�t seem to want to hear that ! She was adamant
on the �this is correct� and �that is incorrect� thought.

[yingwenlaoshi]

He's in grade 8. Get out of my face.

[bacasper]

All grammatically correct.

[Underwaterbob]

Yes, they're all correct. Watch out for the "awkward" comment. Like someone said it before, what's awkward to one English speaker may be perfectly fine to another. It's all awkward to me, since where I grew up they were called seventh, eighth and ninth grades in junior high school.

[aloysha]

points taken....thanks all