Hi, Ardith Hinton! -> Alexander Koryagin
I read your message from 27.04.2021 21:46

 AK>> So, if you are a headmaster in school,
 AH> Usage note: as a female I might well be headmistress of a private
 AH> school in this country but principal (gender neutral) of a public
 AH> school.

Although, I spoke in general, not about you. And don't you find that "principal" is a more formal word?  "Principal came to the boy and asked..." or "Headmaster/mistress came to the boy..."

 AK>> and you want to find out who is that naughty boy throwing rocks,
 AK>> you will ask him, "Why you are not at a lesson?

 AH> Assuming the incident occurred during class hours I'd probably
 AH> say.. as Anton suggested... "Why are you not in class?

But in informal speech I often hear questions asked as an affirmative sentence with questionable intonation?

 AK>> What's your second name?"

 AH> I'd start by saying "What's your name?" If he replied with only a
 AH> given name I'd pursue the matter further, because in a large high
 AH> school there could easily be dozens of kids who are known by the
 AH> same first name. The term "second name" could be confusing, though,
 AH> in English. Let's say we have a boy whose full legal name is on
 AH> record in the office as

 AH>                   John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt

Poor boy, but, nevertheless, there is no other way to establish boy's identity (to call his parents to Principal). ;)


 AH> Now, what to do instead? If Mr. & Mrs. Jones & their 2.3 children
 AH> use the surname "Jones" you can refer to it as a family name... but
 AH> things are often more complex these days. A woman may prefer to use
 AH> her maiden name, for any number of reasons, and/or she may remarry.
 AH> IOW a parent's surname may not be the same as that of the
 AH> individual who's throwing rocks or whatever. I say "surname"
 AH> because it covers a lot of territory including historical
 AH> characters like Harold Bluetooth who may not have had family names
 AH> as we know them. :-))

But any child is written in the school register with a certain surname. And probably he must know his surname.

 AH> If "surname" is beyond the limits of the other person's vocabulary
 AH> you could try "last name", but this might not work with e.g. recent
 AH> immigrants from parts of Southeast Asia where the family name comes
 AH> first. "John what??" works in many cases although it sounds
 AH> unbecoming of a principal... [chuckle].

I think it is better to use "surname" in that circumstance. But it's too late to correct my translation. ;)

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2021

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