The date with "homework" or "classwork"

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Rachel Adams

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I am trying to find my post about writing dates. I may have asked a similar question about dates before, but I am not sure I asked the question about the required written form in local schools and colleges. I was taught that when announcing a date, writing "on the thirtieth of April" is formal. Writing "on the 10th of April" (with of without "th" doesn't matter) is ever very rare. But if I am not announcing a date, if I write in my notebook "the thirtieth of April" or "the 30th of April" and add "classwork" or "homework" would these forms still be very formal?
 

emsr2d2

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If you're writing it in your own notebook and no one else will see it, does it matter?
 

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I'd write "4/30".
 

emsr2d2

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And I'd write "30/4" or "30 Apr/April".
 

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GS would write that because American English speakers typically put the month first.

British English speakers are more likely to write 30/4.
 
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Rachel Adams

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If you're writing it in your own notebook and no one else will see it, does it matter?

It doesn't. But in local schools these forms are used "the thirtieth of April" or "the 30th of April" and then under it students usually add "classwork" or "homework." I was wondering what native speakers think about it. The teachers who insist on these forms are not native speakers.
 

emsr2d2

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It doesn't. But in local schools these forms are used "the thirtieth of April" or "the 30th of April" and then under it students usually add "classwork" or "homework." I was wondering what native speakers think about it. The teachers who insist on these forms are not native speakers.

If a student handed in work with "Homework, the thirtieth of April" at the top, I would change it. I won't call it "correcting it" because there's nothing wrong with the words at all. It is, however, extremely unnatural. I might leave "the 30th of April" as it is.

I would use "thirtieth" (or similar) only in a legal document or a script/novel etc. When I'm simply writing the date, I'd use the forms I put in post #4.
 

Rachel Adams

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If a student handed in work with "Homework, the thirtieth of April" at the top, I would change it. I won't call it "correcting it" because there's nothing wrong with the words at all. It is, however, extremely unnatural. I might leave "the 30th of April" as it is.

I would use "thirtieth" (or similar) only in a legal document or a script/novel etc. When I'm simply writing the date, I'd use the forms I put in post #4.

Which forms were and are still acceptable in schools, colleges and universities in the UK? The forms you mentioned in post #4 or this one "1(st) May"?

You said you might leave "the 30th of April" as it is, but it doesn't look natural either, does it? In the same situation when a student handed in work with "Homework and the 30th of April".
 
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emsr2d2

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Which forms were and are still acceptable in schools, colleges and universities in the UK? The forms you mentioned in post #4 or this one "1(st) May"?

You said you might leave "the 30th of April" as it is, but it doesn't look natural either, does it?

I don't work in a school here so I don't know what's encouraged at public institutions. I can only talk about my private students and what I would expect to see in general life.

It would depend on the age of the student. If a six-year-old handed in homework with that at the top, I would leave it alone because I wouldn't want to be overly critical of something that is actually grammatically correct. If a fifteen-year-old handed in homework with that at the top, I would change it and explain why/how it's unnatural and unnecessary.
 

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I don't work in a school here so I don't know what's encouraged at public institutions. I can only talk about my private students and what I would expect to see in general life.

It would depend on the age of the student. If a six-year-old handed in homework with that at the top, I would leave it alone because I wouldn't want to be overly critical of something that is actually grammatically correct. If a fifteen-year-old handed in homework with that at the top, I would change it and explain why/how it's unnatural and unnecessary.

When writing "th", "rd" and "st" in your copybook, should it be written above the digit or next to it as in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or the superscript?
 

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When writing "th", "rd" and "st" in your copybook, should it be written above the digit or next to it as in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or the superscript?
Either way is fine.
 

emsr2d2

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When writing "th", "rd" and "st" in your copybook, should it be written above the [STRIKE]digit[/STRIKE] line (superscript) or next to it, as in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th? [STRIKE]or the superscript?[/STRIKE]

I don't know anyone who uses superscript in their handwriting. Some word processing programs automatically superscript the relevant letters.

Is a "copybook" an exercise book?
 

Rachel Adams

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I don't know anyone who uses superscript in their handwriting. Some word processing programs automatically superscript the relevant letters.

Is a "copybook" an exercise book?

No, I mean a copybook where students write their homework. Not a workbook.
 

emsr2d2

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No, I mean a copybook where students write their homework. Not a workbook.

That's what I meant. In BrE, an "exercise book" is a book filled with blank (usually lined) pages. It's not, confusingly, a book full of exercises! They usually have a space on the cover for the user to write their name and sometimes their class name/number.

I'm not sure if this will work but this is the Google Image result I get when I search for "exercise books".
 

Rachel Adams

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That's what I meant. In BrE, an "exercise book" is a book filled with blank (usually lined) pages. It's not, confusingly, a book full of exercises! They usually have a space on the cover for the user to write their name and sometimes their class name/number.

I'm not sure if this will work but this is the Google Image result I get when I search for "exercise books".
Yes, that's what I meant too. On exercise books which we buy here they often write "copybook". I googled it and read that "A copybook, or copy book is a book used in education that contains examples of handwriting and blank space for learners to imitate. Typical uses include teaching penmanship and arithmetic to students." That's not true. In some of them there are no such examples.
 

Rover_KE

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I googled it and read that "A copybook, or copy book is a book used in education that contains examples of handwriting and blank space for learners to imitate.
I'm aware of that definition but have only ever heard and used 'copybook' in the metaphor blot one's copybook.
 

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I'm aware of that definition but have only ever heard and used 'copybook' in the metaphor blot one's copybook.

I have never heard/used/read "blot" used in that reference and only in use as "ink blot"/Rorschach test. Where I come from and in my experience in AmE, a copybook is usually considered an informal, general purpose composition notebook.
 

Rachel Adams

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I don't know anyone who uses superscript in their handwriting. Some word processing programs automatically superscript the relevant letters.

Is a "copybook" an exercise book?

But adding "th", "rd" and "st" in your handwriting when writing a date is optional if I am not mistaken. For example, "on 13th May" or "13th May". Isn't it optional when written above a student's homework and in other contexts?
 

emsr2d2

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Yes. If a student writes "13 May", it's fine.
 
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