Teach me English(during, over )?

Question

My first language is Japanese.

What is the diffrence between During and Over in these terms.

1. The company will lay off 9.000 employees DURING the next 18 months
2. The company will lay off 9.000 employees OVER the next 18 months.

Is Over in 2nd term perfectly correct?

And one more

The convention will be held October 3rd through October 18th.

Is A preposition unnessesary prior to October 3rd, such as On ??

Thank you in advance.

Maybe, is Over for the past tense(case)??

Answer 1

I would normally use during with a more general time expression like "my childhood" or "the summer", and use "over" for "the next 18 months".

During often means that the time period during which the action happens is longer than the time taken for the action itself. In the case of your sentences, I would expect in 1 that the company would lay off 9000 people on, say, November 1st, 2007. In 2 I'd expect them to lay off say 1000 tomorrow, another 1000 in November, 3000 next March, and so on, up until March 2008.

From Oct 3 through Oct 18

Answer 2

I am English and I don't see any difference in the During and Over statements. They mean the same thing to me. Over sounds more acceptable though, during just doesn't seem to fit that sentence.

Use the preposition On October 3rd through October 18th, it sounds better.

Answer 3

What an intelligent question! Sometimes the words "during" and "over" are not interchangeable and have very different meanings.

However, in your example, they do mean the same thing and are interchangeable. I've heard both terms and believe that either one is acceptable.

Sometimes a preposition is implied. Look at the following sentences.

Throw the ball to me.
Throw me the ball.

In the second sentence, it is implied that you want the ball thrown "to" you.

In your second example, I would not use a preposition. It is unnecessary.

Answer 4

I agree that in the first question during/over can be interchanged, but I would have thought the second sentence should be...
"The convention will be held *from* October 3rd through *to* October 18th"
-- or --
"The convention will be held *from* October 3rd *to* October 18th"

I could just be proving my own ignorance here so will watch this one with interest!

Answer 5

Iagree with other answers on the first item, but the second would not be considered good English outside the US.
It should be "from.. to".

Answer 6

In these cases you can use both during and over.
In the 2nd sentence I'd use the preposition "on".

Answer 7

they are both definitions of the same meaning. During the summer, over the summer it means the same

Answer 8

Nice questions. There is no difference in q 1 at all they're both fine. 2nd no prep necessary. My best answer is this is just how people talk and write............

Answer 9

the end result is the same to both questions,and it's better to answer sooner then later opening and closing date

Answer 10

There's no difference between the two.


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