1. He finished the report in 5 days.
2. He finished the report for 5 days.
3. He finished the report during the 5 days.
[Can we use all the sentences? What is the difference in meaning when we use 'for' as in #2? ]
4. He read the book in 5 days.
5. He read the book for 5 days.
6. He read the book during the 5 days.
[Can we use all the sentences? What is the difference in meaning when we use 'for' as in #5? ]
1, 3, 4, and 6 are all correct.
2 and 5 are incorrect.
1. Yes, you can use the sentence "He finished the report in 5 days." It means that it took him 5 days to complete the report.
2. The sentence "He finished the report for 5 days" does not make sense in this context. It implies that the act of finishing the report lasted for a duration of 5 days, which does not convey the intended meaning.
3. The sentence "He finished the report during the 5 days" is grammatically correct, and it means that he completed the report within the duration of 5 days.
4. Yes, you can use the sentence "He read the book in 5 days." It means that it took him 5 days to finish reading the book.
5. The sentence "He read the book for 5 days" implies that he consistently read the book for a duration of 5 days. It suggests that he was engaged in reading the book for the entirety of those 5 days.
6. The sentence "He read the book during the 5 days" is grammatically correct, and it means that he read the book at some point within the duration of 5 days. It does not specify whether he finished reading the book during that time or how much of the book he read.
1. "He finished the report in 5 days." - This sentence means that it took him 5 days to complete the report. The preposition "in" is used to indicate the duration of time it took to finish the task.
2. "He finished the report for 5 days." - This sentence is grammatically incorrect. The preposition "for" typically indicates a duration of time when used with verbs like "wait" or "work," but it does not make sense in this context.
3. "He finished the report during the 5 days." - This sentence implies that the report was completed within a specific timeframe of 5 days. The preposition "during" indicates that the action of finishing the report occurred within the given time period.
Regarding the second set of sentences:
4. "He read the book in 5 days." - This sentence means that it took him 5 days to complete reading the book.
5. "He read the book for 5 days." - This sentence suggests that he read the book continuously for a period of 5 days. The preposition "for" is used to indicate the duration of time during which an action occurred.
6. "He read the book during the 5 days." - This sentence implies that the reading of the book took place within a specific timeframe of 5 days. The preposition "during" is used to convey that the action of reading the book occurred within the given time period.