The English dictionary defines the term “high school” as an institution which provides all or parts of secondary education. Now, if you are wondering which word is correct between high school vs highschool, the English dictionary refers to the word “highschool” as the alternative spelling of high school.
Generally, there are many rules to learn when it comes to spelling words in English. Sometimes it can be a bit confusing to remember the rules surrounding many compound words in English.
But which of these words is correct to use when writing?
What Is High School?
The English dictionary defines the term “high school” as an institution that offers all or parts of secondary education.
A high school is a secondary school attended by children in the United States from the ages of 14 to 18. In the American education system, this corresponds to grades 10 to 12.
In the United States education, a high school would include grades 7 and up. However, the United States school system now refers to grades 7 through 9 or 10 as middle or junior high school.
According to Dictionary.com, in Australia and the United Kingdom, they sometimes use the term “high school” in the names of grammar schools or independent schools. Children who attend these schools are usually between the ages of eleven and eighteen.
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High School vs Highschool: Which is Correct between High School and Highschool
It’s sometimes a bit confusing to remember the rules surrounding various compound words.
Generally, compound words are single expressions that consist of more than one word. Compound words are organised into three categories, which include open, closed, and the hyphenated compound.
The term “high school” is written as two words here- without a hyphen. The word “high school” when used as an adjective before a noun- for example “high-school student” or “high-school diploma”, it’s usually written with a hyphen.
- Open- High school
- Closed- Highschool
- Hyphenated- High-school
High School vs Highschool: Use Hyphen with Restraint
Attending high school and earning a diploma is the least of educational requirement for certain jobs. The term “high school” is a common word used in the United States and other English-speaking countries.
Almost everyone understands the word “high school”, so it is not really necessary to use a hyphen when writing the word.
Let’s look at a few sentences with the term “high school” without a hyphen.
- Mr McCarthy is our high school English teacher
- Mrs Hayes served as the high school principal
- The high school students practised subsequently for the basketball game
In the sentences above, the term “high school” serves as an adjective describing the subject, whether it’s a principal, a teacher, or a group of high school students.
Also, keep in mind that one of the most important rules about hyphenated compound words is that you can only hyphenate a compound adjective when it goes before the noun and not after.
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High School vs Highschool: What Is the Difference Between High School and Highschool
The English dictionary defines the term “high school” as an institution that offers all or parts of secondary education. While countries like the United States prefer to use the word high school, parts of Australia and Canada use secondary school.
High schools are for children between the ages of 13 to 18. After attending high school, one can pursue higher education at tertiary institutions.
Generally, the term “high school” is commonly used interchangeably with secondary school. Countries like South Africa use the terms high school, secondary school, and college interchangeably.
High School vs Highschool: High School as a Noun
If you look for the word in different dictionaries, you will find “high school” and sometimes the word is spelt with a hyphen “high-school”.
Now, if you search for the meaning of the word in the Collins English Dictionary and Webster’s Online Dictionary, you will find it written as “high school” with its meaning.
The English dictionary defines the word “high school” as a noun- As a noun, the word is a count noun or variable noun because it can be used as countable nouns or uncountable nouns.
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Countable Noun
As a countable noun, it’s easy to differentiate between a high school and several high schools.
Here are a few sentences for example.
- What high school did Jennifer attend?
- Mr Logan was a math teacher at several high schools before his retirement
- I was invited to the high school reunion for the class of 97
- Many high schools participated in the state basketball championship
Uncountable Noun
Generally, the term “high school” can also function as an unquotable noun. It all depends on how we use the word in a sentence. While countable nouns are concrete, uncountable nouns are typically abstract.
For instance, this sentence “I graduated from high school in 1983”
In the sentence above, the person undoubtedly graduated from a certain high school. The term “high school” is used here as a stage of education from which they advanced.
You will also notice that “a” or “an” was not used in the sentence above.
As a Proper Noun
The term “high school” can also be used as a proper noun when you are referring to a certain high school.
For example- I attend New Braunfels High School.
High School vs Highschool: High School or Highschool
While most people consider the word “highschool” as an incorrect spelling, the English dictionary defines it as the alternative spelling of high school.
The spelling almost everyone is familiar with is “high school”. This is generally considered as the regular spelling instead of “highschool”, spelt without space.
The word “high school” when used as an adjective before a noun- for example “high-school student” or “high-school diploma”, it’s usually written with a hyphen.
Let’s look at some examples of sentences with the term “high school”.
- I attended high school from 2003 to 2007- a sentence like this should always be open with space and no hyphen
- Physics was a compulsory high-school course that I passed- here, high-school modified “course”. It’s an adjective that should be hyphenated.
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Is “Highschool” a Real Word?
The term “highschool” can be found in the English dictionary where it’s defined as the alternative spelling of high school. However, most people are only familiar with the word spelt as “high school”.
The spelling almost everyone is familiar with is “high school”. This is generally considered as the regular spelling instead of “highschool”, spelt without space.
“Highschool” as a word is generally underlined or flagged by writing applications as a misspelt word. High school is a widely used word that is the correct spelling to use when writing.
Conclusion
Generally, there are many rules to learn when it comes to spelling words in English. Sometimes it can be a bit confusing to remember the rules surrounding many compound words in English.
The English dictionary defines the term “high school” as an institution that offers all or parts of secondary education, whereas “highschool” is defined as the alternative spelling of the word.
We hope this article on the difference between high school vs highschool was helpful.
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References
- Strategiesforparents: High School or Highschool: Which Is Correct?
- MakingEnglishFun: Which is Correct – High School or Highschool?
