I wrote "Many college students work at the weekends." My colleague changed 'at' to 'during' = Many college students work during the weekends. Do you feel there is a difference, however subtle?
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Did you look up the prepositions? what did you find? – anongoodnurse Apr 25 '14 at 02:03
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'At' is British, while Americans are more likely to use 'on'. See discussion here: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/75466/at-on-the-weekends – neubau Apr 25 '14 at 03:33
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One can also work over the weekend and through the weekend. Also see “On/at/for/over the weekend” in American English. – choster Apr 27 '14 at 03:43
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Yes, there is a significant difference.
Works at is usually used for a place (He works at the telephone company) or solving a particular problem (He's working away at it now).
Working on (3.a.) is used for times (he works on Mondays through Fridays; he also works on weekends sometimes) and problems (He's working on it now).
During is acceptable, as is They work weekends.
anongoodnurse
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