Commonly confused nouns: time words.

We use hours to talk about the time during a day or week when something usually happens, especially the time when someone works or when something is open:

• working hourse
• office hourse
  
• opening hours
• Most nannies work long hours for low pay. (=the work many hours a day)

 

We use period or period of time to talk about particular lenghth of time:

• Sales rose by 20% over a six-month period/over a period of six months.
• Sportsmen an earn a lot of money, but only for a relatively short period of time.

 

We use duration in formal writing to talk about how long sometimes lasts:

• Make sure that your visa is valid for the duration of your stay.

 

The timing of something is when it happens withing the context of other events:

• He said the timing of the announcement is not related to next week's board meeting.

 

Time is also used in a number of common expressions:

• How do people spend their spare time/free time/leisure time?
• We spent most of the time on the beach. (not "most of the times"!)
• We haven't seen each other for a long time. (not "for long time"!)