Line英会話クラス
Lesson Plan August 15, 2025
Topic: Prepositions of Time: for, during, while
In this lesson you can review the different uses of the prepositions of time for, during and while.
Section A: for
We use for + a period of time
for 10 minutes
for ages
for a long time
for 10 years
for 6 months
We can use this with all tenses
I haven’t see you for ages!
I waited for three hours.
I’ll remember it for a lifetime.
Section B: during
We use during + noun to say when something happens, not how long it happesn
I fell asleep during the meeting
during the week
during the match
during summer
With a time words such as the week, the summer, the afternoon, the night, we can also use in
Jack works hard during the week.
Jack works hard in the week.
Section C: while
We also use while + subject + verb to say when something happens
The phone rang while I was having breakfast.
My delivery arrived while I was in the bathroom.
Did you visit the Colosseum while you were in Rome?
We use the present tense after while when we talk about the future
I’m going to visit Sydney next month. I’ll call you while I’m there. (NOT … while I will be there)
Please take lots of pictures while you are on holiday. (NOT … while you will be on holiday)
Lesson Notes
Prepositions of Time
Take care, and don’t fall asleep while driving.
While is used here because we are talking about an action happening at the same time as another action. Driving is the action, and we want to say “during the time you are driving.”
For is used for a length of time (for two hours, for a week).
During is used with a noun (during the meeting, during the holiday). It is not normally used directly with a verb like driving unless you change it to a noun form, such as “during the drive.”
They met while on holiday in Scotland.
While is used to talk about something happening at the same time as another activity. Here, meeting happened at the same time as being on holiday.
For is used to talk about how long something happens (for two weeks, for a month).
During is used with a noun to show when something happens (during the holiday, during the meeting). If we used during here, we would say “They met during their holiday in Scotland.”
Will you be here at Christmas? Do you have any plans for the holidays?
We use at with special times and holidays (at Christmas, at New Year, at Easter).
We use for when talking about having plans, gifts, or arrangements related to a holiday (plans for the holidays, a gift for Christmas).
