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I need a similar word that may be used by a 6th grade girl; e.g.,“That kind of behavior is only appropriate for little girls of six or seven.”

It is not to tell her (may be used by), it is for her to write in her diary, something that she would say as an 11 year old—I doubt a girl that age would put such words in her diary—but I may be mistaken. In Spanish (my native language) "conducta apropiada" is common, and even younger kids would understand it, but using the above expression in their diaries may not be as common.

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  • You're problem is that you're using "appropriate" in an ironic fashion, and irony is not studied until the 7th grade. Rephrase it.
    – Hot Licks
    Jun 4, 2015 at 21:27
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    What's wrong with telling her she's behaving like a six year old? Would she not understand that?
    – WS2
    Jun 4, 2015 at 21:35
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    "You are acting like a six year old"
    – Oldcat
    Jun 4, 2015 at 21:42
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    6th grade? The answer is... appropriate. If a 6th-grader does not know the word appropriate (the meaning anyway, if not also the spelling), then s?he should never have made it as far as the 6th grade.
    – Drew
    Jun 4, 2015 at 21:49
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    like @Drew says, appropriate is in every 6th grader's dictionary, I;m surprised why they still are in 6th grade.
    – ethanc
    Jun 4, 2015 at 21:52

5 Answers 5

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The most idiomatic phrase in English, which an 11 year old would say, is

They are acting like 6 year olds.

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In AmE "fitting" would be a suitable synonym for appropriate.

fitting adjective: 1. suitable or appropriate under the circumstances; right or proper. "a fitting reward"; synonyms: apt, appropriate, suitable, apposite; see, Google

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  • I looked up the word and its synonyms (before posting the question) but I was hoping for something different...
    – Rowenna
    Jun 4, 2015 at 22:06
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    Thank you very much for taking the time to answer - the last three words have a connotation that the behavior is approved by the speaker which is not the case - she is complaining about her classmates and their practical jokes, a behavior that could only be acceptable if they were 6 or 7.
    – Rowenna
    Jun 4, 2015 at 22:16
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    @JoeBlow (I've deleted mine). Please delete your comments, I've just realized the last edit was two hours ago, but the substantial one was done seven hours ago. In any case, because Oldcat had already suggested "You are acting like a six year old", it's very probable that users didn't want to "borrow" that answer. (You are accusing Little Eva of giving a "bad" answer, an answer that was more than "appropriate" before Rowena edited her post.)
    – Mari-Lou A
    Jun 5, 2015 at 5:47
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    @Mari-Lou, hello there, sis. I was answering an OP titled (something like) "need a synonym for 'appropriate' which is suitable for a sixth-grader", while the body of the OP explained "I need a similar word that may be used by a 6th grade girl; e.g.,'That kind of behavior is only appropriate for little girls of six or seven.'” The OP struck me as a GR. I posted an answer only because Rowenna is a new user and the comments didn't seem all that helpful. I took her OP at face value and suggested an answer that seemed "fitting". I didn't think it was inconceivable. ;-)
    – user98990
    Jun 5, 2015 at 6:37
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    Hello! I said as much below Julie Carter's answer. This is the link to the original post. You can flag Joe Blow's rash comments as being "obsolete" if you want :)
    – Mari-Lou A
    Jun 5, 2015 at 6:56
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expected: derived from expect,

to regard (someone) as likely to do or be something

Source: ODO

  • That kind of behaviour is only expected from little girls of six or seven.

or

  • You only expect to see that kind of behaviour in little girls of six or seven.
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  • This just substitutes one word for another in a context where the child does not understand the ironic nature of the statement.
    – Hot Licks
    Jun 5, 2015 at 1:13
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    I think your first sentence could be a better choice than my original one- I was looking for something less formal than "appropriate" Thank you
    – Rowenna
    Jun 5, 2015 at 3:21
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    @JoeBlow please also consider that the OP asked for a synonym for "appropriate", I think we would all agree that "expected" is exactly that. In my edit, I deleted that specific request from the title because of the OP's substantial edit/improvement. I felt the original title conflicted with the actual question contained in the body, and was therefore slightly confusing.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Jun 5, 2015 at 5:56
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    @JoeBlow, at 11, my daughter would have understood and used the word 'expect' correctly. Neither of us was educated at Rugby! Hot Licks, she would also have been aware of the irony. Learning is not restricted to the school environment. You are both correct in your expectations of the average 11 year-old child. As regards to what the child in question writes in her diary, we can assume she has above average intelligence for her age. The OP is clearly actively involved in her education. Sadly, many children do not have access to adults who can support them outside of school.
    – Julie Carter
    Jun 5, 2015 at 8:25
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    @JoeBlow Chill! You will raise your blood pressure through all this! Please note that the OP commented that my sentence was Ok for her purposes. We don't want people to feel they can't ask questions because it causes hassle. Sending you peace and goodwill!
    – Julie Carter
    Jun 5, 2015 at 9:03
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We often just use the preposition for with the following noun phrase:

That kind of behaviour's for six year olds.

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List of synonyms for the word "appropriate":

http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/appropriate

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  • I'm sorry, but this is a "let me Google that for you" answer, and it doesn't address the actual question: which synonym would a 6th grader be most likely to actually use.
    – Marthaª
    Jun 5, 2015 at 6:01

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