A While vs Awhile

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A While vs Awhile
By Ali Hale

One of our readers, Robert, wrote to ask Daily Writing

Tips:

Heres a couple of words I use all the time

interchangeably. But are they? a while vs. awhile
Help me out, o oracle!

Enter keyword to search

No problem, Robert! This ones pretty easy to grasp:

Categories

A while is a noun meaning a length of time

I slept for a while.
(compare with I slept for a bit and I slept for three
hours)
I was away from my desk for a while.
(compare with I was away from my desk for two
minutes)
Awhile is an adverb, meaning for a time, or literally, for
a while.
I slept awhile before dinner.
(compare with I slept deeply before dinner and I slept
badly before dinner.)

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As you can see, the words can be used almost

interchangeably in some cases but a while needs to be accompanied by a preposition, such as for (I
slept for a while) or ago (I left work a while ago). Awhile always means for a while.

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38 Responses to A While vs Awhile

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Fareld on May 02, 2008 1:53 pm

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Great tip! I think I made that mistake for quite a while now !

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I mean saying I slept a while which should of course be accompanied by for!

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sally on May 02, 2008 2:51 pm

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Re: a while vs. awhile

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I hear this frequently in restaurants: Do you want your salad awhile? or Would you like your coee
awhile or with your meal?

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Seems to be used in place of while you wait

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David on May 02, 2008 3:41 pm

You do your readers a disservice by providing limited examples of a while usage. It doesnt always have
to be preceded by for; in fact, it often isnt. For example, I saw her a while ago, or Itll be a while before
we can leave for the party. Those are clearly instances in which awhile is not appropriate.

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guardian angel on May 02, 2008 4:20 pm

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I was late to read this post. I submitted my blog post a while ago (I think I am correct) and I noticed I used
the wrong word.

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Glad to understand the dierence.

Thanks.

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Ali on May 02, 2008 4:22 pm

Hi David,
I think I covered this with my nal paragraph:
a while needs to be accompanied by a preposition, such as for (I slept for a while) or ago (I left work
a while ago).
In your latter example, before is the preposition.
Let me know if you disagree!
Best,
Ali
Deborah on May 02, 2008 6:19 pm
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A While vs Awhile

28/07/2016 01:44

Sallywhere are you writing from? The usage of while for while you wait is intriguing. A regionalism
perhaps?
David on May 02, 2008 7:31 pm
Ali, according to my dictionary (American Heritage), ago is an adverb or adjective, not a preposition.
Likewise, before is an adjective, not a preposition. So I think you need to broaden your denition
somewhat. (Also look up the meaning of preposition. )
Dennis Royman on May 02, 2008 10:06 pm
Good clear explanation. Good enough for me to take a while to tell you to keep up the good information.
Dennis Edell on May 03, 2008 2:55 pm
I love reading stu like this. I write and blog a lot and every once in a while I get caught by a reader lol.
Which reminds me.is alot even a word or just laziness?
David on May 03, 2008 5:25 pm
Dennis,
No, alot is not a word; its either laziness or ignorance (or both). On the other hand allot is a word,
although its denition is not what most people mean when they use alot. Allot means to distribute or
parcel out, as in, say, land grants.
Dennis Edell on May 03, 2008 5:58 pm
Thanks, thats what I thought. I tend to use alot when my thumb wonks out on the spacebar but not on
purpose lol.
Ellen on May 09, 2008 7:36 pm
David, according to my dictionary (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary), before is a preposition, an
adverb and a conjunction.
Precise Edit on May 10, 2008 3:13 pm
We see alot about as often as we see apostrophe-s for plurals, so often, in fact, that we added it to the
list of top problems we address.
Regarding before: The part of this speech for this word, like so many, depends on its usage. Are we
describing where something is? Before is a preposition. Are we describing where an action occurs?
Before is an adverb.
Thinking about the restaurant example above: This may be a shortened form of in a while, as in Do you
want your coee in a while or with your meal. Perhaps this word is becoming another alot.
Who was it that said: Everything eventually oats to the bottom?
Now that our writing forums are open, I suspect that well see a number of issues like this, though its
been a while since we have addressed this specic issue.
Luke S. on May 12, 2008 4:49 pm
I thought awhile was dened as in the act of whiling, as in I could while away the hours/Consorting
with the owers
So that the request, Stop and stay awhile literally meant Stay here while youre whiling your time away.
Awhile has the same prex as sleep does in asleep, or twitter does in atwitter.
This also helps guide us when to use it as two words.
Tweakwindows on November 26, 2008 5:43 pm
Nice information.I have become a regular student here.Can also tell the di btw A FEW & Few?

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28/07/2016 01:44

arbee on January 15, 2009 2:36 pm

hi,
Keep the ball rolling, guys. But lets hope we can keep our cool while (this is not referring to the subject
matter) you impart your knowledge. The aim is to inform and help each other to avoid unnecessary
mistakes in writing.
Thank You.
Shirley Ware on March 16, 2009 12:53 am
While can be a noun, an adverb, or a conjunction. Awhile is only an adverb. A while denitely does
not have to follow a preposition, e.g. for a while. Sometimes it is a predicative nominative as in the
sentence: It has been a while. Most often, following a form of the verb to be, a while will be the
preferable construction. Action verbs will more often take awhile. Does that help?
ron on April 30, 2009 5:13 pm
we can talk awhile or talk about something for a while
Europa Turnage on July 03, 2009 8:33 pm
Is it awhile back or a while back ??
Vivienne Diane Neal on August 31, 2009 2:47 pm
Which is correct? She wanted to wait a while before contacting him or she wanted to awhile before
contacting him.
Thank you for your answer.
Kevin on September 10, 2009 7:51 pm
It has been awhile.
or
It has been a while.
Are either of those okay? Going by your explanation the rst would be, It has been for a while. Thats not
correct. The second would need a preposition, so Im confused. Thanks.
dreiser on September 16, 2009 9:40 am
question:
whats the dierence between out in awhile?and out for a while?and what is the correct grammar?just
want to know..thanks in advance..
sevinc on January 11, 2010 1:37 pm
may i use a while ago with to be going to in past?for example i was going to clean it a while ago
cass on September 12, 2010 1:44 am
This was very helpful! But what if you were to say, Too long a while/awhile. Would you use a while or
awhile?
Jim on December 11, 2010 7:10 pm
Heres another one I cant nd a denitive answer on. Its semi-related. When do you use a ways and
when do you use aways? Or is one of them never okay? For example, We walked down the road aways
seems correct. But The farm was a ways down the road also seems right. Any thoughts?
Judy on January 03, 2011 5:47 am
Is it, I need to lay down. or I need to lie down.?
Gail on March 13, 2011 1:20 am
You need to lie down awhile. First, take o your shoes and lay them there on the oor.
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28/07/2016 01:44

Last night, I lay awake for quite a while tossing and turning. I couldnt remember where I laid my shoes.
I could have lain there forever. I no longer cared where I had laid my shoes.
Mike on May 16, 2011 9:07 pm
Yeah I dont understand why people make the common widespread mistake of typing alot, are teachers
wrongfully teaching this? The other one that drives me nuts is the apostrophe before s for plural, The
funny thing is, when you address it with people, they snicker at you as if youre nitpicking. I mean these
are the same people that are lling out job applications and resumes, who wants to look like an idiot that
slaughters 4th grade level grammar? Alot of people I guess
Randy Swaggerty on June 23, 2011 3:41 am
Correct me if Im wrong, but Black Hat SEO techniques dont work anyway, correct?
Wei on July 01, 2011 7:07 am
@Jim I dont think theres such a word as aways with an s behind. You can say We walk for some way
down the road.
@Judy Gail gave good examples for this, but Ill just add on to it. There is often confusion between the
verbs lie and lay. Lie does not take an object, while Lay takes an object.
To put it in a very layman fashion for easy understanding, it means that for Lie, the subject will commit
the act of lying down itself e.g. He lies down after a hard day at work; Lay on the other hand, means
that the subject will cause something else other than itself to be laid e.g. He lays the knife on the table,
the knife being the object.
The confusion arises, I believe, due to the fact that Lay is also the past tense for Lie e.g. He lay down
after a hard day at work.
Anyway, this is a common grammatical confusion and there is no shortage of clarication for it online.
You can just google Lie vs Lay.
Mo on August 06, 2011 11:54 am
Can you help me settle a debate? Is a while vs. awhile a rule that came about because of frequent
misspellings and general ignorance (as is the case with youre welcome and youre welcomed), or have
they always been two words? Thanks.
lucia on October 18, 2011 8:16 am
a few and few is the same idea of little and a little
a few is a positive idea few is a negative idea.
example.
She has a few chocolates in the fridge . She can still have her snacks.( some but not many).
She has few chocolates in the fridge. She have to go to the market to buy some..
James on November 29, 2011 9:57 am
Mo.
Awhile vs A while is not a rule.
Its two dierent things; one is an adverb, the other a noun.
James on January 26, 2012 6:34 am
I thought Awhile , A while meant a long period of time.
example I havent seen you for a while now.
and Ive been using it that way for a while now lol ohh i did it again.

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28/07/2016 01:44

Tiza on June 07, 2012 5:10 pm

Hello,
Ive got a question about the word a while vs. awhile. Its this sentence, and the person is saying that it
happened a long time ago:
Were talking back awhile.
So in this case, is it one word or two?
Thanks
Dale A. Wood on December 02, 2013 11:45 am
Before is a preposition in time, as in this example:
Back before the year 1776, America was a British colony.
TED on July 11, 2015 10:05 am
To simplify things, though not 100% correct English, which form (a while or awhile?) would be desired to
use in all cases? If I use a while all of the time, would I be considered a perfect English abuser?
Susan on April 01, 2016 2:58 pm
Thanks for the answer. I enjoy good grammar. I did come up with a question for you.
In the introductory paragraph you wrote:
Heres a couple of words I use all the time interchangeably. But are they? a while vs. awhile Help me out,
o oracle!
Question: Heres = Here is. Is it correct to use Heres a couple of words.. or would we write it this way
Here are a couple of words?
Thanks for your reply
Susan

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