A While vs Awhile

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

Here’s a couple of words I use all the time interchangeably. But are they? a while vs. awhile Help me out, o oracle!

No problem, Robert! This one’s pretty easy to grasp:

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”.)

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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Ali on May 2, 2008 | Filed Under Misused Words

One Size Does Not Fit All

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12 Responses to “A While vs Awhile”

Farfield on May 2nd, 2008 1:53 pm

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

I mean saying “I slept a while” which should of course be accompanied by ‘for’!
sally on May 2nd, 2008 2:51 pm

Re: a while vs. awhile……

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

Seems to be used in place of ‘while you wait’
David on May 2nd, 2008 3:41 pm

You do your readers a disservice by providing limited examples of “a while” usage. It doesn’t always have to be preceded by “for”; in fact, it often isn’t. For example, “I saw her a while ago,” or “It’ll be a while before we can leave for the party.” Those are clearly instances in which “awhile” is not appropriate.
guardian angel on May 2nd, 2008 4:20 pm

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.

Glad to understand the difference.

Thanks.
Ali on May 2nd, 2008 4:22 pm

Hi David,

I think I covered this with my final 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 2nd, 2008 6:19 pm

Sally—where are you writing from? The usage of “while” for “while you wait” is intriguing. A regionalism perhaps?
David on May 2nd, 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 definition somewhat. (Also look up the meaning of “preposition.” )
Dennis Royman on May 2nd, 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 3rd, 2008 2:55 pm

I love reading stuff 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 3rd, 2008 5:25 pm

Dennis,

No, “alot” is not a word; it’s either laziness or ignorance (or both). On the other hand “allot” is a word, although its definition 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 3rd, 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 9th, 2008 7:36 pm

David, according to my dictionary (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary), “before” is a preposition, an adverb and a conjunction.