5

If I emailed my teacher:

I've said that I can stay after school to make up the test, but I found out that I have a band rehersal tomorrow. Is it okay for you if I take it on wednesday after school instead?

is the phrase is it OK for you formal in a student-teacher correspondence?

I feel like asking your teacher "is that okay for you?" is not formal and sounds like I'm talking to my friends.

and maybe any grammatical mistakes?

Improve this question
0

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5

Because of your situation:

I've said that I can stay after school to make up the test, but I found out that I have a band rehearsal tomorrow.

Your request to reschedule is a form of asking permission which can be phrased using either would which would sound neither too formal nor informal.

Is it okay for you if I take it on wednesday after school instead?

Would it be okay if I took the makeup on Wednesday after school instead?

Would I be able to reschedule and take the test on Wednesday after school instead?
Would it be possible to reschedule the makeup for after school on Wednesday?

Using could would ask more about agreement rather than permission

I was wondering if I could reschedule the makeup until Wednesday?
Could we reschedule the makeup until Wednesday?

Your teacher will let you know if they are agreeable to the change or not.

More informally you might use:

Can we reschedule for Wednesday? Does that work for you?

Improve this answer
2

In short, I would send that to a teacher and not worry about it. It's not informal, but also isn't formal, and while it isn't exactly how I'd phrase it (as a native speaker) it's grammatically correct.

A slight correction, normally we would say "Is it okay with you if..."

If you are trying to get a bit more formal, you could say "Would it be alright with you if..." or "Would it be possible for me to take it..."

(Note I feel like your phrasing and my "would it be..." phrasing is a bit more presumptuous, like you made your own plans and are just running them by the teacher and are expecting a yes. My second phrasing is more polite and leaves more room for a yes or no. But this is pretty picky, and I don't think the teacher will read that much into it, especially if she knows you aren't a native speaker)

Improve this answer
9
  • do native speakers never ask "is it okay for you.." and are there any parts that doesnt sound native? @Sarah
    – Maimai123
    Feb 8, 2016 at 21:15
  • 2
    The only time I would say that is something like "Is it okay for you to do something", such as "Is it okay for you to eat peanuts?", I wouldn't say "Is it okay for you if...".
    – Sarah
    Feb 8, 2016 at 21:20
  • Also, your tenses in the first sentence are fine, but if I were writing this in my own words, I probably would have said "I said [earlier/yesterday/before etc] that I could stay after school tomorrow, but I found out I have a band rehearsal at that time" Like I said, yours is correct, it just sounds ever so slightly awkward. @Maimai123
    – Sarah
    Feb 8, 2016 at 21:21
  • See also this post on the okay for/okay with question english.stackexchange.com/questions/196878/…
    – Sarah
    Feb 8, 2016 at 21:27
  • 2
    @Sarah: Regardless of the preposition, okay by/for someone is very much an informal usage. Whether it's suitable in OP's context depends on the level of formality expected by the teacher, but it's unlikely the teacher would think there was anything actually wrong with Is it acceptable to you if... even if she would have been quite happy with more informal phrasing.
    – FumbleFingers
    Feb 8, 2016 at 22:05

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .