Use of prepositions: for, over and during

[Guinevere]

(1) John has been unwell over the weekend.

(2) John has been unwell during the weekend.

(3) John has been unwell for the weekend.

Hi. Are there any differences in meaning among these? How do you use them differently?

[Alan]

Hi,

I think that (1) and (2) are acceptable as follows: (1) suggests throughout the weekend (2) suggests at certain times/periods within the weekend. (3) sounds distinctly odd in reference to 'being ill' as 'for' here gives the idea that his illness was planned and that clearly is not the sense.

You can say: We are going to Switzerland for the weekend.

I went shopping for the weekend. In both those sentences there is a sense of purpose.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Guinevere]

Thanks Alan, for helping me so many times! And your answers are clear!
But I'm still not sure how we should use "over the weekend." Could you help me?

[Alan]

Hi,

Let me try and explain 'over' and 'during' with further examples although there's not a huge difference in meaning to me. 'Over' gives in a way a more remote description of time as if the speaker is not personally involved. Take these two sentences:

We did a lot of work on tidying the garden during the weekend.

They very often go camping over the weekend.

Hope this helps.

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Guinevere]

Yes, your answer helps me a lot! Thank you again, Alan!