“She graduated college.”

Common English Blunders, Devolution toward Simpler, Prepositions, Verbs

I often see or hear this and similar sentences.

Problem:
A preposition is missing.

Explanation:
Here’s a simple way to teach someone that “graduated college” is wrong.

Ask him whether he would say this:

  • “She graduated in 2012 college.”

He could reply by changing it to this:

  • “She graduated college in 2012.”

But, to keep “in 2012” before “college” requires the preposition “from”:

  • “She graduated in 2012 from college.”

If he agrees that this is necessary, then ask him to remove “in 2012”, which leaves him with this:

  • “She graduated from college.”

“from college” and “in 2012” are two prepositional phrases, the order of which does not affect the meaning of the sentence:

  • “She graduated from college in 2012.”
  • “She graduated in 2012 from college.”

Dropping of prepositions may be common but can be, as in this example, bad English, too.

Solution:
“She graduated from college.”

Learn More:
See “She graduates high school this year.” for another explanation about why the preposition “from” is necessary.