Questions mainly on English articles

Question

Hi. Do you think these are correct?1. This verse is often mentioned at a Christian camp. -- thinking of "camp" individually, as an example, I think.This verse is often mentioned at Christian camp. -- thinking "camp" generally, I think.    2. This seminar could be proven beneficial to those who haven't attended a school in the past. -- thinking of "school" individually, as an example, I think.This seminar could be proven beneficial to those who haven't attended school in the past. -- thinking of "school" individually, as an example, I think.3. Q: Where is John?    A: He is at (in??) school. -- I see not much difference between the two but I think the presposition "at" is used more in this context. On second thoughts, the version "He is in school" seems bad writing, if not incorrect. What do you think?     A: He is in the school. -- I think this might be correct if you wanted say he is phyisically in the school facility, regardless whether he is studying there or not.

RayH · Accepted Answer

1. This verse is often mentioned at a Christian camp. -- In the right context you could say this but as a standalone sentence the article doesn't fit.

This verse is often mentioned at Christian camp. -- Okay.

2. This seminar could prove beneficial to those who haven't attended a school in the past. -- In the right context you could say this but as a standalone sentence the article doesn't fit.

This seminar could prove beneficial to those who haven't attended school in the past. -- Okay.

3. Q: Where is John?

A: He is at (in??) school. -- Depending on the context either one is fine. See the many threads on prepositions here at the forums.

A: He is in the school. -- Okay if he is actually in the school building and you are near the building (in the parking lot or on the front lawn, for example).

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you.

You wrote/corrected (with your comment):

2. This seminar could prove beneficial to those who haven't attended a school in the past. -- In the right context you could say this but as a standalone sentence the article doesn't fit.

This seminar could prove beneficial to those who haven't attended school in the past. -- Okay

Further questions:

1. Do you think the use of the article in this instance is correct? Let me try to make up a context which may or may not be appropriate.

OK, guys. I want to let you know that I have been attending these seminars for some time now. I have studied people coming into our seminars and have figured that some of them have post-secondary degrees like bachelor's or master's. I am pretty confident that our seminars can benefit those with tertiary-level degrees but I also am confident it can be said the same about those who haven't attended a school.

2. I have difficulty with the part you corrected in the above quoted content. The part is "prove" after the modal verb "could." I tend to make a passive sentence with the verb "could be proven" instead of "could prove" in those types of sentences. Can you help me by explaining to me why it has to be the active verb form "could prove," as you corrected?

RayH · Answer

OK, guys. I want to let you know that I have been attending these seminars for some time now. I have studied people coming into our seminars and have figured that some of them have post-secondary degrees like bachelor's or master's. I am pretty confident that our seminars can benefit those with tertiary-level degrees but I also am confident ~~it can be said~~ that the same can be said about those who haven't attended a school.

It's unclear what "school" you are referring to (primary, secondary, community college, trade school). What?

Can you help me by explaining to me why it has to be the active verb form "could prove," as you corrected?

Saying "could be proven" in this context implies that it has not yet been proven, that it is awaiting the proof (possibly from a study or other source). Saying "could prove" implies a high degree of confidence (but not absolute certainty) as to the benefit involved.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi. Thank youl.

You wrote (with your comments:

OK, guys. I want to let you know that I have been attending these seminars for some time now. I have studied people coming into our seminars and have figured that some of them have post-secondary degrees like bachelor's or master's. I am pretty confident that our seminars can benefit those with tertiary-level degrees but I also am confident ~~it can be said~~ that the same can be said about those who haven't attended a school.

It's unclear what "school" you are referring to (primary, secondary, community college, trade school). What?

Question: Could we use the article before the word "school" to mean (to function as?) "any" as in "any school

Thank you for your anticipated help.

Can you help me by explaining to me why it has to be the active verb form "could prove," as you corrected?

Saying "could be proven" in this context implies that it has not yet been proven, that it is awaiting the proof (possibly from a study or other source). Saying "could prove" implies a high degree of confidence (but not absolute certainty) as to the benefit involved.

Question: Could we use "could be proven" as in "could be proven beneficial" or "could be proven effective" to denote the sense of being tentative, not certain?

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