[Grammar] Use of the word "training"

[leventib]

I am an English speaker and when I hear the sentence:
"She has a training on Saturday"
It just doesn't sound correct, seems like training is left undefined and the meaning of the sentence is totally unclear - yet I am told the sentence follows all English rules and is perfectly fine.

I would have said "She has a training class on Saturday" or Training Session, or "She has training on Saturday" or "She is being trained on Saturday" would make far better sense.

Please could somebody knowledgeable in the English rules explain why the use of "a training" in the context it is being used is correct or incorrect ;-)

 

[Barb_D]

Hi and welcome to Using English.

I would use it just as you did. I would not say "a training" without "class" or your other suggestions, but I would say "she has training."

I can't explain why "a training" would be used by others, except perhaps it's common in other dialects of English.

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi and welcome to Using English.

I would use it just as you did. I would not say "a training" without "class" or your other suggestions, but I would say "she has training."

I can't explain why "a training" would be used by others, except perhaps it's common in other dialects of English.

I'm with Barb on this. As far as I'm concerned we wouldn't simply say "a training" in BrE either.

As you suggested, a training session, a training course, a training event, or just training.

 

[leventib]

Thank you Barb and Ems for your swift responses and confirmation that I am not going crazy.

I was looking for a technical reason why it was not correct, is there a way to explain the technicalities for it being wrong to say "a training" or is it just one of those unexplainable things that you just learn from experience?

I have to confess English was never my thing at school and such, things such as verbs, nouns and all the other descriptors that make up our language and their rules totally were meaningless to me - I simply know what is right and wrong, but the rules are beyond reason to me!!!

 

[Barb_D]

Okay, how's this:
Training is either a non-count noun (she has training, without the article), or an adjective (a training session). It isn't used as a countable noun.

 

[2010]

Thanks Barb for the explanation!

I have another question regarding training, so I thought I could post it here.

Do we say:

I take training (or) I give training.

I was corrected by someone at work saying:

I take training: (I am being trained by someone)

I give training: (I am the trainer who train others)

Please advise.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks Barb for the explanation!

I have another question regarding training, so I thought I could post it here.

Do we say:

I take training (or) I give training.

I was corrected by someone at work saying:

I take training: (I am being trained by someone) Correct.

I give training: (I am the trainer who train others) Correct.

Please advise.

You can say both, and you have the meanings correct. The only change I would make is that we say "I receive training" more often than "I take training".

There is also an argument for saying that "I take training" can also mean that you are the teacher.

I believe that, in AmE, if I said "I am taking a class in history", it means I am a student.

In BrE, if I say "I am taking a class in history" it can mean that I will be the student or the teacher!

My aunt used to be a drama teacher and she would say "I take the students for drama" meaning that she gave them drama classes.

 

[2010]

You can say both, and you have the meanings correct. The only change I would make is that we say "I receive training" more often than "I take training".

There is also an argument for saying that "I take training" can also mean that you are the teacher.

I believe that, in AmE, if I said "I am taking a class in history", it means I am a student.

In BrE, if I say "I am taking a class in history" it can mean that I will be the student or the teacher!

My aunt used to be a drama teacher and she would say "I take the students for drama" meaning that she gave them drama classes.

Thanks for your reply!

What I understand is: I can either say "I take training" or "I give training" (If I am the trainer)

"I take training" or "I receive training" (If I am the trainee)

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks for your reply!

What I understand is: I can either say "I take training" or "I give training" (If I am the trainer)

"I take training" or "I receive training" (If I am the trainee)

To avoid ambiguity, personally I would stick with "I receive/get training" as the trainee and "I give training" as the trainer.

If there are different interpretations of "I take training" depending on who you're talking to, you can probably guarantee that the person will take the opposite interpretation of the one you meant! :-D

 

[Barb_D]

Indeed. I guarantee that if you told me that you took training, it would never occur to me that you were the teacher.

I would be unlikely to say it that way, though.

I took a training course in that, or I had some training in that, or I was trained in that.

 

[leventib]

Barb, thanks for the non-countable noun explanation - I am happy now that there is a rule for "Training" and I also learned what these non-count nouns are after a little googling!

I would also agree with the ambiguity of "took/take training" to me in Britain it is vague and I wouldn't be able to figure out what it meant if the information wasn't contained within the context of the sentence it was within.

So I personaly would stick to "I give/gave training" or "I received training" or a more natural way of saying it "I train/trained", or "I was trained"

 

[charell]

She has "a training" on Satuday: It could mean that It's just 1 Saturday and the following Saturday there's no training. It only occurs once.
She "has training" on Saturday: Means that the training occurs on a regular basis. The training occurs or is scheduled every Saturday.;-)

another interpretation: when you say "have a training" it's one of the tasks or agendas you have on that certain saturday or every saturday. if you say "have training" it's what you are going to do the whole day (it's your agenda for the day). in these situations, training is used as a noun and as far as i'm concerned, it's countable.
sub "training" for "class". i have "class" on saturday - the class would last the whole day. i have "a class" on saturday - maybe it's a 2 hr class, or in the morning only, etc.

 

[Barb_D]

She has "a training" on Satuday: It could mean that It's just 1 Saturday and the following Saturday there's no training. It only occurs once.
She "has training" on Saturday: Means that the training occurs on a regular basis. The training occurs or is scheduled every Saturday.;-)

another interpretation: when you say "have a training" it's one of the tasks or agendas you have on that certain saturday or every saturday. if you say "have training" it's what you are going to do the whole day (it's your agenda for the day). in these situations, training is used as a noun and as far as i'm concerned, it's countable.
sub "training" for "class". i have "class" on saturday - the class would last the whole day. i have "a class" on saturday - maybe it's a 2 hr class, or in the morning only, etc.

Hi charell, and welcome to Using English.

Your use of "a training" and your explanation of having "class on Saturday" would not apply to my version of English. Is that common where you are?

 

[leventib]

Yes, I would agree Barb, saying just "class"(american style I think) or "a class"(UK style) doesn't define repetition and length of the class, the only way you can define that meaning is from additional words - you can't just assume that if you have class on Saturday it will be for the whole day. If I wanted to suggest I had many, then I would say "I have classes on Saturday" or "I have classes the whole of Saturday" or "I have a class for the whole of Saturday", this would far more accurately define what you are trying to say and not leave it vague.

Similarly for training, placing an "a" in front I would say is gramatically incorrect and does not definine the repetitiveness of it.

The interesting thing about language is that no matter how many rules you make to define its usage, there always appears to be exceptions to the rules that you can only ever properly pick up through exposure and practise, then you have the problem of the various countries with their own take on supposedly the same language to further complicate matters :lol: