at or in

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I understand the challenges students face at high school.
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I understand the challenges students face in high school.

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Type: Question • Score: 2 • Views: 2,393 • Replies: 33

[+3] - MontereyJack - 12/21/2012definitely in. When Roberta speaks, listen.

@dcf,

I understand the challenges students face in high school.

This one is better

3 Replies

@Roberta,

Thanks!

0 Replies

@dcf,

definitely in. When Roberta speaks, listen.

0 Replies

@Roberta,

Roberta wrote:

I understand the challenges students face in high school.

This one is better

"Better" in US English, perhaps, but British English speakers (half of all native speakers worldwide) are used to be being "at" school.

1 Reply

@Roberta,

Quote:

I understand the challenges students face in high school.

This one is better

What Roberta meant was that this one is better for language scenarios where it works better.

Google Advanced Search - US region specified

"at high school"

About 77,100,000 results

1 Reply

@JTT,

guess it must work better most of the time
"in high school"--over a billion hits

1 Reply

@MontereyJack,

Quote:

guess it must work better most of the time
"in high school"--over a billion hits

Well,

About 799,000,000 results

anyway. Which leaves us in the same position,

What Roberta meant was that this one is better for language scenarios where it works better.

2 Replies

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

this one is better for language scenarios where it works better.

That comes from the same conceptual space as "If we had bacon, we could have bacon and eggs, if we had some eggs".

1 Reply

@contrex,

Quote:

That comes from the same conceptual space as "If we had bacon, we could have bacon and eggs, if we had some eggs".

Not quite, C. Yours is a counterfactual/irrealis. Mine is when the situation fits 'in', it fits 'in' and when it fits 'at', it fits 'at'.

There is both a semantic and grammatical difference between an irrealis 'if' and a reality 'when'.

1 Reply

@JTT,

really, jtt? you must have a weaker version of google. I got, as I remember, 1,122,000,000.

1 Reply

@MontereyJack,

Quote:

really, jtt? you must have a weaker version of google. I got, as I remember, 1,122,000,000.

Nooooo, Jack, you just are less skilled at using Google properly.

I got the same number of hits using Google as a dummy would.

About 1,220,000,000 results for "in high school".

Using that same dummy Google search for "at high school", we get

About 108,000,000 results

which, and we have to note that you are veering off topic [I wonder why], leaves us in the same position,

What Roberta meant was that this one is better for language scenarios where it works better.

1 Reply

@JTT,

You just restricted your search to the US. I saw no particular reason to do so, considering this forum deals with English worldwide, and most of the OPs aren't USians.

2 Replies

@MontereyJack,

we have to note that you are veering off topic [I wonder why].

This leaves us in the same position,

What Roberta meant was that this one is better for language scenarios where it works better.

Quote:

I saw no particular reason to do so, considering this forum deals with English worldwide, and most of the OPs aren't USians.

But you saw a particular reason to mislead on how language actually works. Why?

0 Replies

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

There is both a semantic and grammatical difference between an irrealis 'if' and a reality 'when'.

I bet you're a ball of fire at parties.

1 Reply

@contrex,

Your focus, C, is equal to BillRM`s.

0 Replies

@contrex,

Quote:

but British English speakers (half of all native speakers worldwide)

Is this fact based, C?

2 Replies

@JTT,

Subtle differences:

I understand the challenges students face at (their )high school.

I understand the challenges students face in (experiencing) high school.

1 Reply

@PUNKEY,

Good for you, Punkey. You should have addressed this pointedly to Roberta and MJ.

0 Replies

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

Quote:
but British English speakers (half of all native speakers worldwide)

Is this fact based, C?

Er, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, I now have to admit. But it depends on who you count.The countries with the highest numbers of native speakers are:

United States (215 million)
Phillipines (3.5 million)

The others in this list are all in the BrE zone, around 110 million:

United Kingdom (61 million)
Canada (18.2 million)
Australia 15.5 million)
Nigeria (4 million)
Ireland 3.8 million
South Africa 3.7 million)
New Zealand (3.6 million)

If you say "Those who speak English as a first or second language" then you could bring in India (125 million) Pakistan (88 million) on the BrE side, which evens things up a bit, even if that relaxation allows you to count 45 million Phillipines who speak English as a second-langage to some degree.

1 Reply

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