0

I came across this sentence from a book by an American author but the line doesn't sound right to me, in particular with "to people who"

So I was glad to change schools to people who were kin and knew they wouldn't treat me different like the kids at my old school. (book)

Does the preposition "to" work here? I would have written:

I was glad to change schools to a new place were people were kin

Improve this question
1
  • 1
    If you have seen this in "a book by an American author" it suggests to me that the author may be intentionally using a non-standard regional accent, perhaps an Appalachian one, something reinforced by the use of the word "kin" which while not non-standard, is uncommon in regular speech in most "standard" dialects of American English.
    – ohwilleke
    Feb 2 at 15:32

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

What he means is

So I was glad to change schools to one with people who were ...

He's essentially equating each school with the people in it. This type of equivalence can be used with many organizations: companies, religions, political parties, etc.

I converted to Judaism because they have more acceptable ideas about the afterlife.

Improve this answer
0

Yes, the preposition "to" in the original sentence is not used correctly. The revised sentence you provided is a better way of expressing the idea. The revised sentence more clearly conveys that the speaker changed schools to be with people who were related to them and who would not treat them differently.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.