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MichalS Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
In/during/over/for/throughout/within the last few years
Hi guys,
I've been thinking much today, perhaps too much.
Are all the options possible in the following context?
1) My health has considerably improved in/during/over/for/throughout/within the last few years.
If so, then how would you differentiate between them all? Please share your thoughts.
For me, all six sound good (but I'm no native speaker) as the action of improving is a process and the words for/during/over/throughout/within refer to the whole time. In suggests rather some time during this period but I don't think it would be so bad in this sentence.
How about:
2) He has visited many places in/during/over/for/throughout/within the last few years.
Here the action is not a proccess but it was repeated over a period of time. Which ones are okay in such context?
Consider yet another example:
3) Now everyone has a telephone at home, and in the last few years many people have bought a mobile phone as well.
This example is quite different as the action of buying a mobile phone is not a process but a single action performed at some point during this period of time. Given that, do over/during/for/throughout/within fit the context as well? Personally, I would throw out for, as it doesn't quite fit the ‘a single action carried out during a period of time' concept and I really don't know about the rest. Please, help me analyze these sentences and write the options you think are possible in each sentence.
Michal
I've been thinking much today, perhaps too much.
Are all the options possible in the following context?
1) My health has considerably improved in/during/over/for/throughout/within the last few years.
If so, then how would you differentiate between them all? Please share your thoughts.
For me, all six sound good (but I'm no native speaker) as the action of improving is a process and the words for/during/over/throughout/within refer to the whole time. In suggests rather some time during this period but I don't think it would be so bad in this sentence.
How about:
2) He has visited many places in/during/over/for/throughout/within the last few years.
Here the action is not a proccess but it was repeated over a period of time. Which ones are okay in such context?
Consider yet another example:
3) Now everyone has a telephone at home, and in the last few years many people have bought a mobile phone as well.
This example is quite different as the action of buying a mobile phone is not a process but a single action performed at some point during this period of time. Given that, do over/during/for/throughout/within fit the context as well? Personally, I would throw out for, as it doesn't quite fit the ‘a single action carried out during a period of time' concept and I really don't know about the rest. Please, help me analyze these sentences and write the options you think are possible in each sentence.
Michal
Top answer
Hi Michal This is the order of my preference 1) My health has considerably improved over the last few years. OK 2) My health has considerably improved in the last few years. OK It implies an improvement when you compare your state of health at the beginning to the state at the end point.
- Hi Michal This is the order of my preference 1) My health has considerably improved over the last few years.
- OK 2) My health has considerably improved in the last few years.
- OK It implies an improvement when you compare your state of health at the beginning to the state at the end point.
- 3) My health has considerably improved during the last few years.
- OK 4) My health has considerably improved throughout the last few years.
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4 Answers
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Hi Michal
This is the order of my preference
1) My health has considerably improved over the last few years. OK
2) My health has considerably improved in the last few years. OK
It implies an improvement when you compare your state of health at the beginning to the state at the end point.
3) My health has considerably improved during the last f
This is the order of my preference
1) My health has considerably improved over the last few years. OK
2) My health has considerably improved in the last few years. OK
It implies an improvement when you compare your state of health at the beginning to the state at the end point.
3) My health has considerably improved during the last f
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Hi AlpheccaStars,
Thanks for the reply.
Thanks for the reply.
AlpheccaStars5) My health has considerably improved within the last few years. OKThis is very interesting! I sometimes can smell out implications that some words tend to have but I would never
It implies that before this period, your health had been going downhill and there was a turnaround a few years ago.
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MichalSWouldn't you say that during/over/within imply a similar continuous improvement?Given the nature of health situations, I'd say a qualified yes.
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