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He passed the university

hirashin

Sempai
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8 Apr 2004
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Hello, native English speakers,

Which would be acceptable?
a1) He studied so hard that he passed the entrance examination of Kyoto University.
a2) He studied so hard that he could pass the entrance examination of Kyoto University.
a3) He studied so hard that he got to pass the entrance examination of Kyoto University.
a4) He studied so hard that he managed to pass the entrance examination of Kyoto University.

b1) He studied so hard that he passed Kyoto University.
b2) He studied so hard that he could pass Kyoto University
b3) .He studied so hard that he got to pass Kyoto University.
b4) He studied so hard that he managed to pass Kyoto University.

c1) He studied so hard that he entered Kyoto University.
c2) He studied so hard that he could enter Kyoto University.
c3) He studied so hard that he got to enter Kyoto University.
c4) He studied so hard that he managed to enter Kyoto University.

d1) He studied so hard that he was accepted to Kyoto University.
d2) He studied so hard that he was accepted by Kyoto University.

e1) He studied so hard that he was admitted to Kyoto University.
e2) He studied so hard that he was admitted to enter Kyoto University.
e3) He studied so hard that he was admitted by Kyoto University.

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin
 
Sentence e2 seems incorrect to me. Instead of admitted there I would likely say "permitted" or "allowed". Also when it comes to a university you don't pass a university you graduate from one. So all of the "b" sentences might be better expressed by a variation of, "He studied so hard he was able to graduate from Kyoto University.".
 
a1 and a4
c1 and c4
d1 and d2
e1 and e3
-are fine.

The others are either wrong or sound unnatural even if grammatically correct (based on US English).
 
a1 and a4
c1 and c4
d1 and d2
e1 and e3
-are fine.

The others are either wrong or sound unnatural even if grammatically correct (based on US English).
(b) should be ...that he graduated from Kyoto University.
"...managed to graduate from..." would also be OK here.
 
I think the intention of "pass" as it is used here is 合格, as in; "to pass the entrance examinations for...".

In English we pass a test, but we don't "pass a University". This is why none of the (b) sentences work well.
 
Thanks, Majestic. To tell you the truth, I put those sentences with "pass" because I wanted to make sure that you can't say "pass the university".
 
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