MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH
ACTIVITY SHEET (created by the user: Profe)

Before doing this activity you may need to read the text you will find at the end


  SmartMemo
DURING vs FOR
Focus Grammar
Description The difference between DURING and FOR to talk about time and their Spanish translations.
Instructions 1- Look at the words and think of its meaning (and maybe pronunciation)
2- Move your mouse over the black button to check your answer.
3- If you were right, click on the green button, if wrong, click on the red.
 
Item Match Comments
Los búhos nunca salen por el día Owls never go out during the day
Tuve un accidente durante las vacaciones I had an accident during my holidays
Llovió mucho el fin de semana It rained a lot during the weekend
Me desperté dos veces por la noche I woke up twice during the night
Mi padre estuvo ingresado en el verano My father was in hospital during the summer
He estado sentado dos horas I've been sitting for two hours
Me quedé en casa de mis padres tres días I stayed at my parent's for three days
He estado tres días viajando I've been travelling for three days
Conocí a Kevin en mis años de universidad I met Kevin during my university years
Me voy a Canadá a pasar el verano I'm going to Canada for the summer
Llevo viviendo aquí dos años I've been living here for two years
Estuve dos meses en Salamanca I was in Salamanca for two months
¿Durante cuánto tiempo has vivido aquí? For how long have you lived here? also: How long have you lived here?
Me casé en Sevilla en navidades I got married in Seville during Christmas
Llevo una hora esperando I've been waiting for an hour
Total number of items: 15
This is an activity from Multimedia-English www.multimedia-english.com
 

DURING is used to say WHEN something happens; FOR is used to say HOW LONG it lasts. Compare:
 
- My father was in hospital during the summer
- My father was in hospital for six weeks
 
- it rained during the night for three hours
- I can see you for a few minutes during the afternoon
 
In many situations (but not always), we can use IN instead of DURING:
- I woke up during the night = I woke up in the night

 

Hay que tener cuidado porque en español "durante" significa normalmente "for", no "during", y además suele omitirse. En los ejemplos anteriores, si suprimimos la palabra "durante" de las traducciones españolas queda mejor:
- mi padre estuvo ingresado seis semanas
- llovió tres horas por la noche
- puedo verte unos minutos por la tarde