for/since/tenses

[mslk]

I wonder whether it is correct to say I was there for a week.
Can we use for with the Past Simple or only with Perfect Tenses? If we can't, how can I express the meaning?

 

[saleemullah1]

for is used for unknown time for example one week u mentioned in ur sentence now we dont know which week.since is used for known time ie since evening,since morning,since three o,clock etc
he has been working for 3days. he has been playing cricket since moring
i hope u wil got the difference now

 

[Neillythere]

I'm not a teacher, but, as a Brit, I would have no problem at all with: "I was there for a week"

Not too keen on having to read SMS text message format on this site, however. :shock:

 

[mslk]

I know the difference between for and since and i know that they usually go with Perfect Tenses, I wasn't sure about the Past Simple....Maybe it would be beter to say I spent there a week/ I was there one week.. But I trust native speakers' intuition As far as I know, non natives (like me) tend to exaggerate with what is correct what is not... Many thanks

 

[Neillythere]

"I spent there a week" doesn't work.

Brits would change the order of words and say: "Italy? Yes, I spent a week there last Summer" or "I had spent a week there before I realised that you had gone"

The other text works...
I was [or had been] there [for] one [or a] week before I realised that you had gone"

"I have been there for weeks at a time, in the past" also works for me. This means that I have spent a few weeks there on a number of occasions in the past.

Hope this helps.

Regards

 

[mslk]

Sure, it does. Many thanks