over the years
prep. phr..prep. phr.. during a long period of time as it passes. You use this to talk about how things have changed or stayed the same since a long time ago.
prep. phr.. denoting a duration of several years during which a process or trend occurs. It functions as a temporal adverbial phrase, often used with the present perfect to link past events to the present.
The city has changed a lot over the years.
Over the years, we have become very close friends and share many memories.
The architectural style of the cathedral has been modified several times over the years to reflect changing aesthetic values.
usually appears at the very beginning or the very end of a sentence.
use this phrase to practice the present perfect tense, as it naturally connects a past duration to the current state of things.
during the yearsover the years'Over the years' is the standard fixed expression for describing gradual change; 'during' sounds less natural in this context.