A gymnasium is a large room or hall for sport and exercise, usually in a school or university. The word sounds formal, and in conversation it is almost always shortened to gym. It means a school only when people talk about Germany and other countries in continental Europe; in other contexts, gymnasium will be understood as a sports hall. For a selective academic school, grammar school is a handy term: in Britain, that is a state school that admits pupils by entrance exam.
gymnasium: will you get the meaning right?
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the school/university + gymnasium; in + the gymnasium; go to + the gym (everyday); study at + a grammar school (not a gymnasium)
- Because of the rain, the PE lesson was moved to the school gymnasium.
- The exams were held in the university gymnasium, which had room for three hundred desks.
- I go to the gym near my office three times a week before work.
What changed
First versionI studied at a gymnasium in Samara, where we had extra English lessons.
RevisionI studied at a grammar school in Samara, where we had extra English lessons.
In many European countries, a gymnasium is an academic secondary school, but in English studied at a gymnasium sounds as if you studied in a sports hall. A school with a strong programme that selects its pupils is called a grammar school in English. You can also describe it: a school with an advanced English programme.
In everyday English, gym also means a fitness club: I joined a gym near my office. In this sense, the full word gymnasium is hardly ever used. School sports lessons in Britain are called PE, short for physical education.
Your turn
After primary school, Tom passed an entrance exam and went to the local ___, known for its excellent exam results.
Show the answer
grammar school — An entrance exam and excellent exam results belong to a school, not a sports hall, so grammar school is right. In English, gymnasium means a sports hall, and nobody takes an entrance exam to get into one.
Describe the school you went to. Name the town or city and say where you had PE lessons.
I went to a grammar school in Tula, and we had PE in an old gymnasium with a squeaky floor.
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