Ishiguro: To take a class (BrE)

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Marius Hancu - 29 Oct 2009 14:25 GMT

Hello:

I'm more used with "to take a class" as describing the student's
situation, not the teacher's:

----
[A prank happens, while a guardian/teacher "takes" a class]

Even so, it might not have led to anything -- and this is a big irony,
I suppose -- if Miss Geraldine hadn't been taking the class that day.

Kazuo Ishiguro, Nevel let me go, p. 19
----

Does it mean she was teaching, or perhaps controlling, the class?
--
Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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Roger Burton West - 29 Oct 2009 14:41 GMT

>Even so, it might not have led to anything -- and this is a big irony,
>I suppose -- if Miss Geraldine hadn't been taking the class that day.
>
>Does it mean she was teaching, or perhaps controlling, the class?

Yes - I think "lead" or "give" might be more usual, but "take" is
standard in this sense in BrE (the student would "attend" an individual
lesson or lecture, but "take" an entire course).

Signature

Roger BW - BrE

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Marius Hancu - 29 Oct 2009 15:00 GMT

On Oct 29, 9:41 am, Roger Burton West <roger
+aue200...@nospam.firedrake.org> wrote:

> >Even so, it might not have led to anything -- and this is a big irony,
> >I suppose -- if Miss Geraldine hadn't been taking the class that day.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> Yes - I think "lead" or "give" might be more usual, but "take" is
> standard in this sense in BrE

I was very much surprised to see that ballet _masters_ would take a
class, not give it:-)

Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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Roland Hutchinson - 29 Oct 2009 15:12 GMT

> On Oct 29, 9:41 am, Roger Burton West <roger
> +aue200...@nospam.firedrake.org> wrote:
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> I was very much surprised to see that ballet _masters_ would take a
> class, not give it:-)

It works in AmE, too.

To "take" a class in this sense is it to take charge of it, especially to
take it over (e.g. substituting for another instructor: "Mary is at a
conference until Tuesday; I'm taking her classes while she's away.")

Signature

Roland Hutchinson

He calls himself "the Garden State's leading violist da gamba,"
... comparable to being ruler of an exceptionally small duchy.
--Newark (NJ) Star Ledger ( http://tinyurl.com/RolandIsNJ )

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Marius Hancu - 29 Oct 2009 16:02 GMT

On Oct 29, 10:12 am, Roland Hutchinson <my.spamt...@verizon.net>
wrote:

> > On Oct 29, 9:41 am, Roger Burton West <roger
> > +aue200...@nospam.firedrake.org> wrote:
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> It works in AmE, too.

Great to know!

> To "take" a class in this sense is it to take charge of it, especially to
> take it over (e.g. substituting for another instructor: "Mary is at a
> conference until Tuesday; I'm taking her classes while she's away.")

I assumed it being so, wasn't sure.

Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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Chuck Riggs - 30 Oct 2009 16:39 GMT

>> On Oct 29, 9:41 am, Roger Burton West <roger
>> +aue200...@nospam.firedrake.org> wrote:
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>take it over (e.g. substituting for another instructor: "Mary is at a
>conference until Tuesday; I'm taking her classes while she's away.")

The difference is easily missed, for only "that day" at the end of the
sentence gives away the fact that Miss G was teaching the class, not
attending it.

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Regards,

Chuck Riggs,
An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / October 2009

Ishiguro: To take a class (BrE)