英语语法：10 Graduated versus Graduated From

Grammar Girl here. Today's topic is graduation.

I can't believe it's already May. Graduation season is around the corner, which means my inbox will soon be full of complaints about the phrase "graduated college." And those complainers are right to be annoyed.

For example, Becky from Sacramento wrote in last year to say that it's like hearing fingernails on a chalkboard when she hears people say something like He graduated high school in 1988. "Is it correct to omit the preposition [from]?" she asks.

No, Becky, it's not correct. The sentence should read He graduated from high school in 1988.

At first I thought this topic was too narrow to deserve a whole podcast. I haven't really heard the phrase "graduated college" or "graduated high school" much myself, but apparently¹ I just don't get out enough because when I did a Google search, the phrase "graduated college" was twice as popular as the phrase "graduated from college." Twice! The wrong way of saying it showed up twice as often. I scrolled² through the results for "graduated college" hoping perhaps I hadn’t thought of a saying in which the two words just happened to show up next to each other, but alas³, every result I looked at was a student talking about how they had just graduated college. I then realized I was going through the five stages of grief.

Scrutinizing⁴ the results was actually the first stage--denial. I really couldn't believe that the wrong wording would be twice as common.

Then came anger. What kind of education are these kids getting? It's a disgrace!

I skipped bargaining and went straight to depression. If it's really that bad out there, what is the point of even doing a grammar podcast? Nobody cares. Nobody listens. Its a lost cause irregardless of what Squiggly and myself cogitate⁵ about the matter*.

And although this might be stretching the analogy of the five stages of grief, I suppose this podcast is a form of acceptance. It is bad out there, but we can still do our part. People do listen. So listen closely: If you go around saying you graduated college, you sound illiterate⁶. The correct way to say it is that you graduated FROM college. Here's why:

"To graduate" is a verb, and it can be both transitive and intransitive. Remember that a transitive verb takes an object and an intransitive verb doesn’t. Remember, an object is the thing or person the verb is transferring action to--the thing the subject is taking action on.

When you say that someone graduated from a specific college you are using the intransitive form of "to graduate" because the verb has no object. Let's say Squiggly got a degree from Burrow⁷ College. Although it's a bit archaic⁸, the formal way to say this using the intransitive form of the verb "to graduate" is to say, "Squiggly was graduated from Burrow." The more modern way to say it and still be correct is "Squiggly graduated from Burrow." You need the "from." Squiggly graduated FROM Burrow. The shortest form of this sentence would be "Squiggly graduated." If you think about it that way, you can see that "from Burrow" isn't an object, it's just a prepositional phrase that tells you more about where Squiggly graduated from.

The thing is, when you say, "Squiggly graduated Burrow," you've turned "to graduate" into a transitive verb. By definition, the act of graduating is something a school does to a student, not something a student does to a school. Schools graduate students. You could say that Burrow graduated 600 students this year. However, if you say, “Squiggly graduated Burrow,” you're making Squiggly the subject and Burrow the object and saying that Squiggly did something to the college. It's possible Squiggly did many things to the college during his tenure⁹ there. He may have damaged the college, delighted the college, or desecrated¹⁰ the college--but he didn't graduate the college.

I don't know why so many people have taken to dropping the "from" and are going around saying they graduated college, but it really is wrong. Do your alma mater a favor and make your English instructors¹¹ proud. Tell people you graduated from college or high school.

Questions and comments for me go to ... or the voicemail line at 206-338-GIRL. You can also read the full transcript¹² of this podcast at quickanddirtytips.com, where you can leave comments and check out the other great podcasts. Also, in case you haven't noticed, we have a great guest host for the Money Girl show--Andrew Horowitz. He's the author of The Disciplined Investor¹³, which is available through a link on the Money Girl section of our site and at his website, thedisciplinedinvestor.com. This week he's helping¹⁴ people avoid the most common investing mistakes.

Finally, there's a sentence in this show that contains at least four errors. I included it as a joke, but if it didn't jump out at you, head over to the website to find it in the transcript. That's all. Thanks for listening.

*That's a grammar joke. I tried to write the most incorrect sentence possible to show that I was depressed¹⁵.

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 scrolled   

adj.具有涡卷装饰的v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的过去式和过去分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Wherever the drop target can possibly be scrolled offscreen, the program needs to auto-scroll. 无论拖放的目标对象是否在屏幕之外，程序都需要自动滚动。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• If It'still is then you've not scrolled up enough lines. 如果还在说明你向上滚动的行数不够。 来自互联网

3 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

4 scrutinizing   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His grandfather's stern eyes were scrutinizing him, and Chueh-hui felt his face reddening. 祖父的严厉的眼光射在他的脸上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• The machine hushed, extraction and injection nozzles poised, scrutinizing its targets. 机器“嘘”地一声静了下来，输入输出管道各就各位，检查着它的目标。 来自互联网

5 cogitate   

v.慎重思考，思索

参考例句：

• I need a few days to cogitate the problem.我需要几天的时间来思考这问题。
• He sat silently cogitating.他静静地坐着沉思。

6 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

7 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

8 archaic   

adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的

参考例句：

• The company does some things in archaic ways,such as not using computers for bookkeeping.这个公司有些做法陈旧，如记账不使用电脑。
• Shaanxi is one of the Chinese archaic civilized origins which has a long history.陕西省是中国古代文明发祥之一，有悠久的历史。

9 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

10 desecrated   

毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army desecrated this holy place when they camped here. 侵略军在这块圣地上扎营就是对这块圣地的亵渎。
• She shouldn't have desecrated the picture of a religious leader. 她不该亵渎宗教领袖的画像。

11 instructors   

指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份，被邀请到主席台上。

12 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

13 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。