David is told by his parents

[Bassim]

I am wondering if my sentence sounds natural.

David is told by his parents that if he finishes school without any qualifications, he is risking ending up in prison, just as his brother did.

 

[andrewg927]

What do you mean by "if he finishes school without any qualifications"?

 

[Bassim]

I made a mistake. I should have written like this:

David is told by his parents that if he leaves school without any qualifications, he is risking ending up in prison, just as his brother did.

 

[andrewg927]

I believe you mean "if he leaves high school without a diploma."

 

[Bassim]

Yes, I mean if he leaves school without a diploma, but I do not specify what kind of school.

 

[andrewg927]

OK. That's fine. Your sentence is fine.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's perfectly possible to "leave/finish school without any qualifications" in the UK. It simply means that someone attends school up to the official leaving age (currently 16 but shortly to change to 18) but fails to pass any of the final exams. If that person chooses to leave school before the official leaving age, we would say they "left school early". That's probably the equivalent of the AmE "dropping out of school" but we don't use that.

 

[Polyester]

emsr2d2,
Can I say "he left school early without any diploma that he wouldn't find any jobs successfully on the society" ?

 

[emsr2d2]

It won't make sense in BrE because, with the exception of certain vocational subjects, we don't get diplomas from school. We get individual subject qualifications from secondary school (GCSEs) and from Sixth Form colleges (GCE A Levels) and degrees from universities.

He left school with no qualifications so it might be hard for him to find a job.

"on society" doesn't work at all in English. "in society" works in some contexts but not in this one. We don't have a job in society. We just have a job (or we don't).

 

[Tdol]

You could use he risks as well.

 

[Tdol]

That sentence is acceptable as it is.

The opening present simple passive does not seem very natural to me. Without further context, I'd find 'has been told' more natural.

The present passive could work in a synopsis, but in most contexts, I would use the present perfect.