[General] share the same desk

[jackson6612]

Hi,

Is the following sentence correct? Thanks.

We used to share the same desk in school.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

Hi,

Is the following sentence correct? Thanks.

We used to share the same desk in school.

Grammatically, it is.

 

[jackson6612]

Grammatically, it is.

Is it also idiomatic?

 

[Rollercoaster1]

Is it also idiomatic?

I don't think so. Let's see what others say.

 

[probus]

Sure it's idiomatic although the circumstances in which it is factually accurate may be rare. At one school I attended we moved from one classroom to another for different subjects. Obviously more than one student used each desk but not simultaneously. And it's a very big world we live in, so it is easy to believe that there are schools which have desks designed to be used by two students at once.

Jackson612, did you compose that sentence or did you find it somewhere?

 

[jackson6612]

Sure it's idiomatic although the circumstances in which it is factually accurate may be rare. At one school I attended we moved from one classroom to another for different subjects. Obviously more than one student used each desk but not simultaneously. And it's a very big world we live in, so it is easy to believe that there are schools which have desks designed to be used by two students at once.

Jackson612, did you compose that sentence or did you find it somewhere?

Thank you. I composed it myself.

The desk I had in mind was designed to be shared by more than one student, and they remained in the same class for all subjects.

 

[Rover_KE]

Thank you. I composed it myself.

The desk I had in mind was designed to be shared by more than one student, and they remained in the same class for all subjects.

That reminds me of my own primary school experience, but that was 70 years ago. Things have changed since then in many countries.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

That reminds me of my own primary school experience, but that was 70 years ago. Things have changed since then in many countries.

Majority of schools in my country still use the same desks in which more two students can sit.

 

[emsr2d2]

I find the original sentence ambiguous. It could mean that when you sit at a desk, you have to share it with someone else (two people sit at it at the same time), or that a desk you sit at has been/will be used by someone else at a different time.

 

[probus]

Majority of schools in my country still use the same desks in which more two students can sit.

The majority ... desks at which (not in) ... more than ...

 

[PeterCW]

Not a teacher

As a native BrE speaker I would typically use "share" to indicate that the use of a single person desk was divided between us. If I was referring to one of the desks that we used at primary school with space for two students I would say "we sat at the same desk".

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

The word share is not idiomatic. The phrase used to has three meanings, and two are idiomatic. You can Google the phrase. The context will tell you which definition fits.

Coincidentally, this is the third time this question has come lately. Here's one of the threads: used to

 

[Rollercoaster1]

The majority ... desks at which (not in) ... more thsn ...

Schools in my country place desks, in classes, one after another with no space between them. Generally, each class has three rows. So, when a student sits, half of his body is covered by the desks; the one he sits at, and the other attached to the back of his desk. This link may help: https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/sit-in-at-one-desk.2514468/

Please look at the image and tell us 'sit in' works better, or 'sit at'.
https://msutoday.msu.edu/_/img/assets/2019/pakistan-students-2.jpg

 

[emsr2d2]

These days, different people using a desk on different days/shifts is called "hot desking". I doubt it's used in school situations, but it's used extensively in offices.

 

[GoesStation]

You sit at a desk, never in one.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

You sit at a desk, never in one.

The first link in post 13 shows the 'sit in desk' answers by native speakers.

 

[Rover_KE]

The first link in post 13 shows the 'sit in desk' answers by native speakers.

But see post #9 in that link, which reflects the majority view of BE speakers.

 

[probus]

But see post #9 in that link, which reflects the majority view of BE speakers.

Thanks for the BrE view Rover. In AmE it's not a majority view, it almost qualifies as a universal truth. Nobody but nobody EVER says sit "in" a desk.

 

[PeterCW]

Thanks for the BrE view Rover. In AmE it's not a majority view, it almost qualifies as a universal truth. Nobody but nobody EVER says sit "in" a desk.

Its a bit more subtle than that. For the last 8 years of my time at school in England we used pieces of furniture which combined both desk and seat in one unit. We sat "in" those desks. For the following 51 years I have always used a desk with a separate chair and have sat "at" those.

A Google image search suggests that schools these days use desks with separate chairs so using "in a desk" in a modern setting is probably an anachronsim.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm sure this predates you, PeterCW, but I love this photo!



Source: https://www.objectlessons.org/child...sk-victorian-20th-century-original/s67/a1031/