Author Topic: Spanned from (Read 1198 times)

Jonathon · « **on:** May 29, 2007, 02:06:58 PM »

In my editing I came across something that seemed weird: "Construction spanned from 1732 to 1762." My impression is that something can span a time period ("spanned three decades") but not a range of dates (from x to y). M-W's definition says "to extend across." That doesn't seem to fit with the usage in my example.

Does anyone else think it's weird?

Porter · « **Reply #1 on:** May 29, 2007, 02:11:20 PM »

Kinda weird, but only once you pointed it out.

Brinestone · « **Reply #2 on:** May 29, 2007, 02:49:52 PM »

It doesn't sound wrong to me at all, though "spanned three decades" seems more familiar.

JT · « **Reply #3 on:** May 29, 2007, 03:00:54 PM »

It's the 'spanned from' that's weird, if you ask me.

If the sentence read, "Construction spanned thirty years, from 1732-1762" it wouldn't seem so weird. I think I expect 'spanned' to be followed by a unit of some sort (either time or distance) and not a preposition.

Jonathon · « **Reply #4 on:** May 29, 2007, 03:04:19 PM »

Thanks, JT. My thoughts exactly.