at/in that period

[tyrp]

Hello everyone,
Which is the correct way of putting it:
At that period of his life he was poor and had to work as a janitor.
In that period of his life he was poor and had to work as a janitor.
Is the preposition all right? Will the same preposition be used if we drop the of-phrase (without 'of his life'-part)?
Thanks in advance.

 

[White Hat]

Perhaps, we could use "during" here.

 

[emsr2d2]

My first choice would be "during". "At" and "in" don't really work when you are talking about a period of time that starts on one date and ends on another.

 

[tyrp]

Thank you for your help. I was talking about the possibility to use '...that period' as a synonym to 'at that time', which is difficult from 'during that time' if I see it right. So which preposition will do in this case or shall I stick to 'during' only? Thanks again.

 

[emsr2d2]

I would use "During that period" or "During that time". With regard to the rest of your question in post #1, you could omit "of his life" if it was clear that that was what you were talking about and if it was a period or time frame which had already been mentioned.

My grandfather lived in Germany for 10 years from 1937. During that time/period, he worked as a cameraman and as a barber.

 

[tyrp]

Thanks a million! I appreciate your help greatly.