Prepositions of time: for and during

For y during  son dos preposiciones muy fáciles de confundir. Un sencillo truco para decidir cuándo utilizar  una u otra es saber que "for" responde a preguntas hechas con "How long ...?"  y "during"  a preguntas que empiezan por "When ...?" . a continuación encontrarás algunos ejemplos y un ejercicio para practicarlo.

FOR expresses the duration of an action. It is used to say how long an action took. We cannot use “during” to express that.

 Examples:

He lived in France for three years and then went back to England.
We have been waiting here for twenty minutes now and he hasn’t come yet.
We will travel around South America for six months and visit different countries.


DURING introduces a period of time in which something happens. Sometimes, “during” can be substituted by “in”.

Examples:

We saw each other twice during [in] that week.
During the conference, the ministers talked to the press after every meeting.
We never got round to seeing each other during the month that I spent in London.

Complete the sentences with for or during.

a) Marc has been studying English ___________ two years.

b) Helen and Peter fell in love _____________ a trip to Africa.

c) ___________ his hunger strike, he didn’t eat anything and only drank water.

d) The workers have been on strike ________________ a week now.


Answers: a- for,b-during,c-During,d-for.