1. MADE BY: CRISTIAN YUMISACA AND PATRICIA VINUEZA
UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CHIMBORAZO
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN HUMANAS Y TECNOLOGÍAS
GRAMMAR SIX
The use of for, during and while
2. THE USE OF FOR, DURING AND WHILE
• The prepositions during, for, and while
are often used with time expressions
3. HOW TO USE FOR?
For is a preposition which is used with a period to say how long
something goes on, It answers the question : How long?
for twenty minutes for a week for a long time for a year
For example:
"Simon has been sleeping for 8 hours."
"We waited for 30 minutes outside your house."
4. HOW TO USE DURING
During is a preposition which is used before a noun (during + noun) It
means 'throughout the period' or 'in the course of' an action or event.
during the match during the war during the weekend
I fell asleep during the film because it was so boring. (The sleeping
happened at the same time as the film.)
Notice that during is followed by a noun, which often represents an
activity (during + the film).
"Nobody spoke during the presentation."
“The bank was robbed during the night”
5. REMEMBER
You cannot use during to say how long something
continues.
Incorrect= It snowed during 3 nights correct = It snowed
for 3 nights
6. HOW TO USE WHILE
While is used to talk about two things that are happening at the same time. The
length of time is not important. It is very similar to during, but it is followed by a
sentence (while + subject + verb...), so they are not interchangeable. For
example:
1. Stan: When did you lose your credit cards?
Mark: I think it was while I was shopping in El Corte Inglés.
2. "The phone rang while I was watching TV."
3. "I met him while we were studying in the library."
7. IT IS OFTEN POSSIBLE TO DROP SUBJECT + BE :
“I generally listen to music while driving to work.”
“Sam twisted his ankle while playing tennis.”
WHILE CAN ALSO BE A NOUN WHICH MEANS 'A PERIOD OF TIME'.
“I spoke to the neighbor for quite a while yesterday.”
“It's been a while since I read that book.”
REMEMBER
8. EXERCISE: COMPLETE WITH THE CORRECT PREPOSITION OF TIME FOR
THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES: FOR, WHILE OR DURING.
1. I've been meaning to call you ___ some time.
2. He fell asleep ___ the meeting.
3. We all stayed inside ___ the storm.
4. Someone stole my bag ___ I was riding on the train.
5. The dog was barking ___ she was trying to watch TV.
6. Please don't smoke ___ I'm eating.
7. Bats sleep ___ the day.
8. They've been out of the office ___ ages.
9. He kept talking to me ___ I was trying to read.
10. His mobile-phone rang twice ___ the film.
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