The proper tense with the preposition "during"

Question

In this site it is said that we should Avoid using both a verb tense and an adverb that express duration:

All these sentences are considered to be incorrect:

*The Stanford theater has been closed during the month of July.

*We have been at the movies during the evening.

*There have been five updates during the last year.

But I came across these sentences in grammar books:

• Wages have fallen during the last two months.
• The weather has been very cold during the past week.
• During the time that he’s been talking to you, has he ever mentioned his son? I am a little bit confused.

Can we use perfect tenses (future perfect continuous, present perfect continuous, past perfect continuous, future, past, present present perfect) with the preposition during or only future/past/present simple(continuous) are possible?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

There may be some slight variation between English in the UK and American English. What I say below applies to American English, which uses the perfect less than in the UK.

All these sentences are considered to be incorrect:

*The Stanford theater has been closed during the month of July.

This sentence is fine if it is uttered during the month of July, but not in August or after.

*We have been at the movies during the evening.

This sentence would be marginally acceptable spoken during that same evening; however, it would be much more normal to say something like "We have been at the movies (during) this evening," preferably without "during."

*There have been five updates during the last year.

The phrase "last year" is ambiguous. If it refers to the last calendar year, then the sentence is unacceptable. If it refer the last 364 or 365 days counting back from the date it is uttered, then it is fine and the usual way it would be interpreted.

Time phrases introduced by "during" are fine if they refer to a time period that includes the present. To native AmE speakers, the perfect always feels like a present tense and so can never refer to a time period that excludes the present, but is often the best option for a time period stretching from the past up to or into the present.