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Vickyvicky1008 Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

prepositions for and during

for the three weeks of the competition
during the three weeks of the competition

Which one would sound natural to you?
  

Top answer

It depends on the rest of the sentence, and on the intended meaning. Consider these exanples. eg It rained twice during the three weeks of the competition.

— Clive

  • It depends on the rest of the sentence, and on the intended meaning.
  • Consider these exanples.
  • eg It rained twice during the three weeks of the competition.
  • eg The sports fans booked into a hotel for the three weeks of the competition.
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10 Answers
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It depends on the rest of the sentence, and on the intended meaning.

Consider these exanples.
eg It rained twice during the three weeks of the competition.
eg The sports fans booked into a hotel for the three weeks of the competition.
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Thanks, Clive. I would appreciate it if you could explain the difference of nuances of the two examples. The complete sentence goes as follows:
"For the three weeks of the competition, he practiced many hours
each day. "
Actually, this is an excerpt from an English textbook
officially approved by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. I
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vickyvicky1008natural
When it's simply a matter of an amount of time, I invariably use "for". for two years, for three weeks, for five hours.

When it's a long-lasting event, I use "during". during the conference, during the war, during winter, during class.

CJ
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"During the three weeks of the competition, he practiced many hours each day." This means he practiced while the competition was happening.


"For the three weeks of the competition, he practiced many hours each day." This can mean the same as above, ,but might also possibly mean he practiced before the competition in order to do well for those three week
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Thanks, CalifJim. If it was just "for three weeks" instead of "for the three weeks of the competition", I would have thought nothing of it. As you said, it just refers to a length of time. However, the sentence refers to not only the length of time, but also the event that is happening. The "the" before "three" just doesn't sit right. Yet this "the" is nessesary because of the following speci
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Thank you again, Clive, for the explanation! But, does this sentence gramatically right, sound right? As I wrote to Calif Jim, it just doesn't doesn't sound right to me.
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It sounds fine to me.
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vickyvicky1008The "the" before "three" just doesn't sit right. Yet this "the" is nessesary because of the following specifying words.
Correct. "the X of Y" is a common formula.
vickyvicky1008Doesn't this sentence sound strange to you?
No.

CJ
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