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Meaning & use

elementary school

noun·EverydayAmerican

Last updated

UK/ˌelɪˈmentri skuːl/
US/ˌeləˈmentri skuːl/

Meanings

  1. nouncountableAmerican

    A school for young children, usually from about age five or six to about age eleven, covering the first years of formal education.

    Grammar: Countable: say an elementary school is wrong — use an elementary school, or elementary schools in general.

    Patterns

    • go to elementary school
    • attend an elementary school
    • an elementary school teacher
    • start elementary school

    My daughter starts elementary school in September.

    He teaches music at an elementary school near the park.

    In this district, elementary school runs from kindergarten through fifth grade.

  2. noununcountableAmerican

    The period of schooling or the level of education that such a school provides, seen as a stage of a child's life.

    Grammar: No article when you talk about the stage in general: She was still in elementary school.

    Patterns

    • in elementary school
    • during elementary school
    • finish elementary school

    I learned to play the recorder in elementary school.

    Children are usually in elementary school until they are about eleven.

    He was already good at math during elementary school.

Word forms

pluralelementary schools

Common combinations

elementary school student
Elementary school students get a short break in the morning.
elementary school teacher
She became an elementary school teacher after college.
public elementary school
Most children here go to a public elementary school.
elementary school curriculum
Reading and arithmetic are central to the elementary school curriculum.
go to elementary school
Where did you go to elementary school?

Synonyms and how they differ

primary school
The usual British term for the same stage of education; in the US, primary school is less common and can suggest only the first few grades.
grade school
An informal American synonym, often suggesting the earlier grades rather than the whole period.
junior school
Used in Britain for children roughly aged seven to eleven, so it covers only part of what an American elementary school covers.

Opposites

high schoolmiddle school

Word family

elementary adjective
Basic or simplest; also used in the fixed name elementary school.

Commonly confused: elementary school or primary school? elementary school or middle school?

elementary school vs primary school

Both name a school for young children, but primary school is the British term and can also mean only the first years, while elementary school is the standard American term for the whole stage.

elementary school vs middle school

Middle school comes after elementary school, usually for children around eleven to fourteen.

Practice

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