"get a good grade"

[jctgf]

If she made a sincere effort to get good grades but simply wasn't able to make it, I would accept it and wouldn't get so upset. The problem is that she has a bad attitude: she fails the exams because she doesn't study at all!

Hi,
Is this text fine, please?
How would a native say that?
Which expressions I could have used in order to make the text sound more natural, please?
Thanks.

[colloquium]

The conditional construction could perhaps be more succinct.

I would accept her inability to gain good grades if I felt she was making a sincere effort to earn them.

[jctgf]

The conditional construction could perhaps be more succinct.

I would accept her inability to gain good grades if I felt she was making a sincere effort to earn them.

thanks.
so, can I say that "gain good grades" sounds more natural than "get good grades"?
thanks again.

[pyoung]

To my ear, 'get good grades' or 'earn good grades' would sound more natural.

Also, possibly:

If she made a sincere effort to get good grades but simply wasn't able to do the work, I would accept it and wouldn't get so upset. The problem is that she has a bad attitude: she fails the exams because she doesn't study at all!

Best wishes,
Petra

[colloquium]

thanks.
so, can I say that "gain good grades" sounds more natural than "get good grades"?
thanks again.

Hmm, I'm not sure whether it sounds more "natural".

In this context the word "gain" seems to fit the (hypothetical) idea of the student trying to do well. Gains are made when we have spent a good amount of time doing something, and subsequently achieved something useful as a result (like a "good grade" which you have worked long and hard to achieve)... or at least that is one specific description of the word's use.

Get is, in a sense, more neutral. You don't necessarily have to work hard for, or even want, something which you have somehow got.

But get is fine, and if it seems right to you, use it.