Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

eagleflych · Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 14

Hi, everybody:

I have seen the sentence below in a book of English grammar:

'I am here for six weeks.'

What is the meaning of the 'for'?

Does it mean:the time of the continuation of the 'am'?

Or it means 'my purpose'?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Lorikeet · Joined: 08 Oct 2005 Posts: 1877 Location: San Francisco

"I am here for six weeks." means my trip here will last six weeks.

SimpleEnglishBlogger · Joined: 01 Feb 2011 Posts: 50 Location: Japan

Yes, the "for" refers to the duration of time.

There is a situation that "for" could mean "for the purpose of" though, but you'd need to have "six weeks" be a movie or something.

For example, do you know the movie 9-1/2 Weeks? Say you went to the theater to see that movie. At the theater, you bump into an old friend and he says, "What are you here for?" (meaning what movie are you going to see). You could answer, "I'm here for 9-1/2 Weeks." Of course, that means for the purpose of watching 9-1/2 Weeks, not that you'll stay at the theater for over two months!
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