305. ¿Cómo se dice: I lived there during the summer o I lived there during three months?

During the summer es correcta; during three months, sin embargo, es incorrecta porque during no se usa para referirse a números ni a períodos de tiempo. En estos casos se emplea for:

—I see you studied abroad during your degree.

—Yes, during six months.

—Yes, for three months.

Sin embargo, la primera oración, I lived there during the summer, tal y como está formulada es ambigua. Cuando se utiliza during con una expresión de tiempo, o con un sustantivo referido a períodos de tiempo —tales como summer, last year, the night, my career, the lecture or my childhood—, puede referirse a la totalidad del período o a algo que sucede en un momento determinado dentro de un período de tiempo:

I was in Paris during the summer – I had an internship there that lasted two months.

I was in Paris for a few days during the summer – it was great.

Please make sure your phones are turned off during the lecture (durante toda la conferencia).

His phone rang during the lecture and he was very embarrassed (en un momento dado durante el tiempo que duró la conferencia).

En las frases anteriores, during puede ser sustituido por in, aunque se suele preferir during cuando nos referimos a un momento en el tiempo:

In the lecture I suddenly felt rather ill.

During the lecture I suddenly felt a bit sick.

Como during es una preposición, debe ir seguida de una noun phrase:

I lived in Manacor during I was a teenager.

I lived in Manacor during my teens.