[General] What middle school will she go to?

[Silverobama]

Rachel was one of my students. She stopped learning English from me for a while. This September, she will be a middle school. This whole year, she was taking tests to choose the best middle school. There are many middle schools here. Today I talked to her grandmother and asked "What middle school will she go to?".

Is my question natural?

 

[tedmc]

I suppose it is quite competitive to get a place in one of the choice schools. Unless she is absolutely sure of getting a place in the school of her choice, I would say: What/Which middle school does she plan to go to?

 

[5jj]

This September, she will be a middle school.

Spot the mistake.

This whole year, she was taking tests to choose the best middle school.

How does taking tests help you choose a school?

Do you mean she was taking entrance exams to see if she would be accepted by the best middle schools?

 

[5jj]

Unless she is absolutely sure of getting a place in the school of her choice, I would say: What/Which middle school does she plan to go to?

Unless she is absolutely sure of getting a place in the school of her choice, I would say: Which middle school does she hope to go to?

 

[Silverobama]

I suppose it is quite competitive to get a place in one of the choice schools. Unless she is absolutely sure of getting a place in the school of her choice, I would say: What/Which middle school does she plan to go to?

Yes. She was not sure at all. Here we have more than 100 middle schools here. However, there are seven middle schools are "the best" schools.

Spot the mistake.

Much appreciated. It should be "She will be a middle school student".

How does taking tests help you choose a school?
Do you mean she was taking entrance exams to see if she would be accepted by the best middle schools?

Yes. Those best middle schools will test students' abilities to answer questions on paper and choose the best students for interview. Unluckily, the person who I asked today she failed the test to go to the best schools but still go to some "okay" middle schools.

Given the context, I think "Which middle school does she hope to go to?" is not okay here. How about my new try:

Which offer of middle school did she finally get?

This sounds pretty weird but it's a better way to ask the question. Please enlighten me.

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes. She was not sure at all. [STRIKE]Here[/STRIKE] We have more than 100 middle schools here. However, there are seven middle schools that are "the best" schools.



Yes. [STRIKE]Those[/STRIKE] The best middle schools [STRIKE]will[/STRIKE] test students' [strike]abilities[/strike] ability to answer questions on paper and choose the best students for interview. [STRIKE]Unluckily[/STRIKE] Unfortunately, the person who I asked today said she failed the test to go to the best schools but can still go to some "okay" middle schools.

Given the context, I think "Which middle school does she hope to go to?" is not okay here. Is that because all the schools she hoped to go to have rejected her?

How about my new try?

Which offer of middle school did she finally get? :cross: That's not natural.

This sounds pretty weird but it's a better way to ask the question. Please enlighten me.

If the final decision has already been made, use "Which middle school did she get into [in the end]?"
If there are still several schools in the running, use "Which middle schools have offered her a place?"

 

[Silverobama]

Is that because all the schools she hoped to go to have rejected her?

Yes. All those best schools.

Much appreciated!

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Yes. All the better schools.

Much appreciated!

You can say "best" or "better." In your context they mean the same thing and are both natural, but since there are more than one, I like better. Only one is the best.

I changed those to the because a pronoun should refer to specific schools, and you haven't referred to any.

 

[5jj]

Only one is the best.

Not necessarily.

 

[Silverobama]

You can say "best" or "better." In your context they mean the same thing and are both natural, but since there are more than one, I like better. Only one is the best.

I changed those to the because a pronoun should refer to specific schools, and you haven't referred to any.

I beg to disagree. When I said "all those best schools" I meant the schools are all the best in our city. You can really say one is better than the other schools.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I beg to disagree. When I said "all those best schools" I meant the schools are all the best in our city. You can really say one is better than the other schools.

Re those: It's not natural.

Re best: Reread my comment. I didn't say "best" is wrong. I said it's fine. Then I told why I prefer "better."

 

[Silverobama]

Why is the "those" in "all those best schools" unnatural?

 

[probus]

When we say a word or expression is unnatural we always mean the same thing: it's not necessarily incorrect, but it's not what a native speaker would choose. There is no other why.

 

[Tdol]

PS We have read your profile- you can remove the VPN info.