FOR VS DURING? When do I use them? Help is on the way!

                                          Good day learners and teachers,

                    How do you do on this most auspicious day of delicate delight?

I have been rather busy and regret not having posted a blog in quite some time! I feel that it is about time that we tackled another grammar issue that may be of help!

To proceed - It has come to my attention that there are some difficulties with the understanding of when to use ''during'' and ''for'' - no matter! Let's tackle the issue by giving a short explanation of when to use these two tricky words, followed up with some examples to provide clarity : 

We use during when we want to talk about WHEN something happens - so we ask: When did it happen? - it is also to be noted that this ''when'', is in the MIDDLE OF a period of time:

I always teach during the day.

During the Summer - I like to travel to Cape Town.

I spent time with friends during the Christmas holidays.

We use for when we want to talk about a duration of time, so we ask the question - How long? :

I have taught English for five years.

We travel for nine hours by car, to get to Cape Town.

The Christmas holidays last for two weeks.

To sum up:

During tells us about the period when something happens. For tells us how long it continues or lasts.

Examples: 

During the day - I work for eight hours

I spent a good long time studying English - I studied for  eight months - during those months I studied hard.