In school or at school?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Heidi

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
Can you please tell me the differences between 'in school' and 'at school'?
For example,
'How many friends do you have in(or at?) school?'
'I don't have many friends in(or at?) school, can I make friends with you?'

Which way sounds more natural to ask or reply? and can you give me some more examples?
 

sarat_106

Key Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Oriya
Home Country
India
Current Location
India
Can you please tell me the differences between 'in school' and 'at school'?
For example,
'How many friends do you have in(or at?) school?'
'I don't have many friends in(or at?) school, can I make friends with you?'

Which way sounds more natural to ask or reply? and can you give me some more examples?

'How many friends do you have in your school? This ia approprite and natural.
 

Daruma

Senior Member
Joined
May 30, 2008
Member Type
Student or Learner
school

[noncount]

a : the activity or process of learning or teaching in a school
▪ School is hard for her.
▪ Their daughter will start school next year.
▪ (US) Where do you teach school?
▪ (US) My parents won't let me get a job while I'm in school. = (Brit) My parents won't let me get a job while I'm at school. [=while I am a student in a school]
▪ Stay in school and get your diploma.
▪ He never did well in school.


b : the period of time during which students are in school
▪ I missed school yesterday.
▪ He was late for school. [=he was not at the school on time]
▪ Let's meet after school.
▪ School starts at 8:00 a.m.


—often used before another noun
▪ the school day/year
 

konungursvia

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
Hmm.... I think we're missing something here.

At school, to me, has a concrete meaning. Located at the school you attend in a physical sense. Example: I have been at school since 7 AM.

In school, on the other hand, has a conceptual, more abstract meaning. I will be in school until I graduate. I have been in school for 8 years now.

So, if I was 18, and my mother asked me "how many friends do you have at school" I might answer with the number who attend with me, at the same school.

If she asked me "how many friends do you have in school" I might also include additonal friends who do not attend my school, but who are in school somewhere, rather than drop-outs or in the work force.

So I think both have particular meanings, at least here in the Great Lakes region.
 

Heidi

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
Hmm.... I think we're missing something here.

At school, to me, has a concrete meaning. Located at the school you attend in a physical sense. Example: I have been at school since 7 AM.

In school, on the other hand, has a conceptual, more abstract meaning. I will be in school until I graduate. I have been in school for 8 years now.

So, if I was 18, and my mother asked me "how many friends do you have at school" I might answer with the number who attend with me, at the same school.

If she asked me "how many friends do you have in school" I might also include additonal friends who do not attend my school, but who are in school somewhere, rather than drop-outs or in the work force.

So I think both have particular meanings, at least here in the Great Lakes region.

Dear konungursvia,

Thank you so much for your reply and your time!
Please allow me to ask something more to see if I understand your points.

If a friend of mine asks me, somehow he is interested in finding more about me, after I've graduated for many years, 'How many friends did you have in school?', what he really wants to know is how many friends I had while I was a student, during my school years?

What about if my mom asked me 'How many friends do you have in your school'. Does it still have the same meaning as 'How many friends do you have in school?', having some abstract meaning? Or it can mean the same thing as 'How many friends do you have at your school', the location of the school I attend?

Please do correct me, I got confused, and I would like to learn more.:lol:
 

konungursvia

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
You get it, but there is room in English for variation, it is not a programming language. You can say, you can hear, "at school/in school/in your school/at your school" etc. But not everyone choosing one of these is as particular about exact meanings as you and I.
 

konungursvia

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
We say "at school" more often than we do "in school" in AE, so I'm not sure I can agree with that assertion.
 

Heidi

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
You get it, but there is room in English for variation, it is not a programming language. You can say, you can hear, "at school/in school/in your school/at your school" etc. But not everyone choosing one of these is as particular about exact meanings as you and I.
"there is room in English for variation, it is not a programming language."
I really appreciate your words. But I try to learn and figure out what people really mean when they say something to me, especially if there is a subtle distinction between different expressions, and respond as appropriate as possible.
Well, maybe I was thinking too much, things aren't that complicated, in school/at school really makes no difference, but I believe that people will feel something different when you say something in different ways.
So, please correct the following sentences for me. Do most American or Canadian students would write sentences like that? (Thanks for your patience!:lol:)

Jenny failed her math exame in school today, she called and wanted to discuss some math problems with me. 'Sure', I said, 'let's meet at school!'
 

konungursvia

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
*exam

Sure, let's meet at school = perfect
 

Eden Darien

Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
Malay
Home Country
Malaysia
Current Location
South Korea
We say "at school" more often than we do "in school" in AE, so I'm not sure I can agree with that assertion.

Really? :?:

Most of my textbooks say so.... :roll: And so do my native speaking friends... Well, I think between those two prepositions (at and in) have a slightly different meaning.

Normally (at) only covered the meaning on surface while (in) has a deeper meaning.

For example: I am not good at Maths. And I am not good in Maths. (In) tell us the idea that the person is really bad in Maths (slightly deeper than at).
Well, the same thing goes to location. (At) = perhaps somewhere there while (in) more to be likely "the exact location" for example inside the building.

Could someone correct me, If I am wrong :oops: Need some thoughts from the native folks. :-D
 
Last edited:

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
Really? :?:

Most of my textbooks say so.... :roll: And so do my native speaking friends... Well, I think between those two prepositions (at and in) have a slightly different meaning.

Normally (at) only covered the meaning on surface while (in) has a deeper meaning.

For example: I am not good at Math. And I am not good in Math. (In) tell us the idea that the person is really bad in Math (slightly deeper than at).
Well, the same thing goes to location. (At) = perhaps somewhere there while (in) more to be likely "the exact location" for example inside the building.

Could someone correct me, If I am wrong :oops: Need some thoughts from the native folks. :-D

In BrE we are 'good at' or 'not good at' something. We say 'good at maths'.
 

Offroad

Key Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Brazilian Portuguese
Home Country
Brazil
Current Location
Brazil
I have never seen such contruction. 'good in Maths'? What textbook are you talking about?
 

Eden Darien

Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
Malay
Home Country
Malaysia
Current Location
South Korea
Firstly I want to say that the examples that I'd posted here are not based on any textbooks... My apology… :-( It is just based on my conversation with one of my friends. She told me about the differences and that’s why I asked for thoughts here in advanced. But for the part, (at) British and (in) American, I do read it from textbooks. Anyway, I do believe that "good at Maths" is correct.
However, I did some exploration :silly: (surfing sites on the Internet) by myself, and I can see some users are using good in Maths instead of good at Maths. What's your opinion guys?


Hey, better be safe than sorry. I don't want to be such an ignorance and that's why I'm here, hoping to improve myself. ;-)
 

konungursvia

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
Well, by analogy with Latin, which shares the Indo-European preposition "in" with the Germanic languages, we have many very abstract, conceptual expressions:

in extremis
in loco
in camera
in situ
in session
in ....


So, when we have expressions with "in" such as "in school", they strike us as conceptual rather than concrete. I am sitting in my office at home, but I might consider myself "in university" if I was enrolled in courses there.

But if someone called my mobile phone and said "I need to see you, are you at school?" I'd say "No, I'm at home."

Get it?
 

Eden Darien

Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
Malay
Home Country
Malaysia
Current Location
South Korea
Thanks for the explanation...

So my concept was correct. At and in are similar but somewhat different... Right? I think it's different semantically, or maybe includes some differences in pragmatic too...

Same but not the same :lol:
 

Eden Darien

Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2009
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
Malay
Home Country
Malaysia
Current Location
South Korea
Thanks konungursvia... :up:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top