Lors vs pendant in French

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• lors de means "at the time of," "during," or "on" (a specific event)
• pendant means "during" or "for" (a duration of time)

Both can be used to express when something happened, but they focus on different aspects:

lors de

• often refers to the moment an event happened or a state existed
• it is common to use this with nouns referring to a specific event, occasion, or period: lors de la réunion, lors de ma visite, lors de la Révolution Française

pendant

• focuses on the duration of an activity or event
• common to use it with:
  • nouns referring to a span of time: pendant les vacances, pendant deux heures
  • to describe what happened during that time: pendant mes vacances, j'ai voyagé

Examples:

• Je suis allé au marché lors de ma visite en France.
• Je suis allé au marché pendant mes vacances.

Related Topics: When to use depuis, pendant, and il y a, Prepositions

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