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I'm confused which tense I should choose in the following sentence. I got an announcement from my school that I would be in charge of an additional class from next month. In this case, what should I say?

I was assigned to another class from next month.

I'll be assigned to another class.

I've been assigned to another class.

Could you tell me which sentence is appropriate in this case?

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You would normally use the present perfect construction:

I've been assigned another class.

If you want to pin down exactly when in the past you were assigned that class, however, you have to use the past form:

Yesterday I was assigned another class.

If you have not yet been assigned that class but you know that that is going to happen you use the future construction:

Sometime next week I'll be assigned another class.

A note about idiom, in addition to that which jwpat7 provided: assigned to is not incorrect, but at least in US English we usually use just assigned for an additional task or responsibility. Assigned to is more often used when you are moved from one single class or group or unit to a different one:

It's official, I've been assigned to Underwriting.
I'm very disappointed; I've been assigned to Prof. Sartorius' class, and I really wanted to work with Prof. Underhill.
John's no longer in Operations; he's been assigned to Admin.

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  • Then if I get transferred to another city like Tokyo next month, can I say, " I've been assigned to Tokyo. "?
    – tennis girl
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 2:49
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    I would also point out that "I'll be assigned to another class next month" could be interpreted as "I'll no longer be assigned to me current class as of next month" If, in fact, you'll have both the current and the new class you might say, "I've been assigned an additional class starting next month."
    – Jim
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 3:32
  • @tennisgirl Yes. If you were just "assigned" Tokyo, no "to", you would be in charge of Tokyo.
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 11:17
  • @Jim Indeed. And I think probably a struggling adjunct prof who really wants that additional class would say "I'm getting" or "They're giving me".
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 11:22
  • I'm getting a little confused. So when I got a notification to be tansferred to Tokyo for two years, for example, should I say " I've been assigned Tokyo," without putting " to" ? Sorry for many questions.
    – tennis girl
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 12:18
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There are no real problems with any of the phrases “I was assigned to another class”, “I'll be assigned to another class”, and “I've been assigned to another class”. However, the phrase “from next month” is incorrect or at least not idiomatic in most strains of English. Instead use “beginning next month”, “as of next month”, “starting next month”, “that starts next month”, etc.

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    I think the "from next month" usage happens because that form exists in some foreign languages. I started writing "from next month" in English because Japanese persons would translate 来月から that way. 来月= next month; から= from (as a beginning time marker).
    – user485
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 0:23
  • When I tanslate from Japanese into English, I would always say, " from tomorrow, next month, or something". But I should try not to translate that way. I learned a very good point here.
    – tennis girl
    Commented Apr 8, 2013 at 2:31

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