I doubt we'll find a rule specifically on this issue, but I think
'graduate from high school' sounds best, rather than making 'high
school' the direct object of 'graduate.' It doesn't seem to me that
'high school' receives any action, so that's why I too would go with
'from high school' and thus make 'high school' an object of the
preposition 'from'.

Another problem with the 'direct object' version is it sounds very
unnatural when we convert it to passive voice--which shouldn't be the
case if 'They graduated high school' were acceptable.  "High school was
graduated by them" sounds really odd to me (even for a passive voice
sentence, which often sound awkward anyway), so that's another reason
why I would say "They graduated high school" isn't a good option.  

However, this all depends on what 'sounds ok,' so I'm wondering if the
passive voice version sounds odd to anyone else.

Larry Beason


____________________________
Larry Beason, Associate Professor
Director of Composition
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL 36688-0002
251-460-7861
>>> Cynthia Baird <[log in to unmask]> 12/15/06 11:53 PM >>>
Dear colleagues,
   
  A parent recently asked me a question for which I had no ready answer.
 The question is actually one that I have experienced much frustration
over for several years--my high school textbooks and usage textbooks
seem to have no ready answers for acceptable preposition usage in a
variety of situations.
   
  The question is this:  Do students graduate from  high school or do
they graduate  high school? 
   
  I would love to hear from you people.
   
  thanks

 __________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/