Woah - this is like the youtube video by Ryan Star for his song Stay Awhile.

Go watch it for a while.

So we should say, "It took a while, but it was worth it"?

Love this site--I refer to it all the time. Grammar Girl has an ingenious way of explaining grammar and style issues in a way The Chicago Manual of Style and other guides just can't handle, which is to say, Grammar Girl makes the explanations clear! Keep up the awesome work, My Dear!

You are my hero. Not only do I use your site for myself when I get stuck on which word to use, but now that I'm training a few employees, I always go to your site first because you have a knack for explaining complicated grammar rules in a way that doesn't make me want to bang my head against the keyboard.

Thank you!!

I Google this every time I use awhile/a while but I don't know why I didn't come to your page sooner.

This is the shortest explanation I've seen but it's also the simplest one! (I finally get it.)

I am a pakistas and pakistan is a gaod cante

Rather than making it more confusing, i think stating that if you alter the sentence so that it contains a prepositional phrase rather than an adverb makes it more clear.

Also, substituting "week" in place of while is useful. The distinction between "awhile" as adverb vs "a while" as time distinction is just too weak to be effective.

Thanks for the clarification -- definitely makes sense now!

nas:

Adverbs aren't just limited to explaining the manner in which something is done. To quote wiki: "Adverbs typically answer questions such as how?, in what way?, when?, where?, and to what extent?."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverb

@überRegenbogen

Hello Over the Rainbow!

Right off the top of my head, I'd say the fact that awhile is an actual word and alot is not might have something to do with it. :-)

Bist du Deutsche(r)?

I do not understand how "stay awhile" is less broken than "use alot".

I learn all of this in school! I want to have a grammy!
Have a nice day!

I was thinking about this article today and believe it may work to see if you can substitute "week" for "while." If you can, it's two words.

It's been a week since Squiggly tried marmite.
It's been a while since Squiggly tried marmite.

Go play week. (aweek?) (It doesn't work, so "awhile" should be one word.)
Go play awhile.

Can anyone think of an example that wouldn't work with this trick?

Oops, I left out a word in my previous post.
Correction: He also failed to use apostrophes*

I think we can all agree that Bob the expert is certainly not a grammatical expert. As JJ pointed out, Bob used the word 'your' incorrectly - not only once, but twice. He also failed to apostrophes and commas where they were needed in various places in both of his posts, he randomly missed placing spaces between some of his sentences, he used run-ons, he frequently didn't capitalize words at the beginnings of sentences, and he didn't use a period at the end of one sentence. If anything, Bob is an expert at profanity and not having a life, causing him to remark on subjects he clearly doesn't understand with obscene and pointless comments and insults.

By the way, this article was very insightful. I wanted to make sure I had been using these words correctly in my various writings. It turns out that I have been using them properly, but at least now I'm aware of the rules for their use, so I won't have to worry about using them incorrectly in the future. Thanks for the helpful advice!

This makes no sense to me, though I see that dictionary.com says the same thing. I think the noun part of the explanation is correct, but I just don't understand how "awhile" could be an adverb.

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, e.g., it tells you how one performs an action. For instance, "He walked quickly / slowly / happily / sadly." Or "She speaks quietly / softly / loudly." Most adverbs end in "ly", though some do not -- e.g., "I am doing well."

That said, I don't understand how "awhile" explains how one performs an action, as it refers to the period of time in which someone does something and not the manner in which someone does something. It seems like "awhile" is just a contraction for "for a while." I don't think "awhile" is modifying the verb at all -- it's just a shortening of a prepositional phrase that would specify the duration of an action. I'm hesitant to call "awhile" a word at all.

This makes no sense to me, though I see that dictionary.com says the same thing. I think the noun part of the explanation is correct, but I just don't understand how "awhile" could be an adverb.

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, e.g., it tells you how one performs an action. For instance, "He walked quickly / slowly / happily / sadly." Or "She speaks quietly / softly / loudly." Most adverbs end in "ly", though some do not -- e.g., "I am doing well."

That said, I don't understand how "awhile" explains how one performs an action, as it refers to the period of time in which someone does something and not the manner in which someone does something. It seems like "awhile" is just a contraction for "for a while." I don't think "awhile" is modifying the verb at all -- it's just a shortening of a prepositional phrase that would specify the duration of an action. I'm hesitant to call "awhile" a word at all.

Riched:

Note that Bob wrote "I dont think you know what your talking about"

nuf said.

Well, Bob, I don't know what kind of an expert you are, but the Chicago Manual agrees with GG. It's too bad you can't avoid this kind of nonsense, even on a grammar site.

i bet you like jizz in your face daily

I dont think you know what your talking about...A while is indefinite amount of time...awhile is short term. you can not use quietly. Two different meanings.i think your a dumbass. or is that adumbass or a woodpecker.

while /as/when he was running ,he fell down.
Which is the best conjunction here .
can we use all of them ?If yes ?how?
thank you

Hi dream,

Let me try answering your question. I think it should be: "a while" because "while" here is used as a noun.

So:
"It has been quite a while since we last talked"

Dear Grammar Girl
I was just wondering if you could do an article on things you'll find on the GED test.
Thanks.

what about in the phrase " it has been quite awile since we last talked"

<assuming the sentence itself is grammatically correct>

Alright, just wait awhile, already.

hmmmm... that didn't help my spongy brain at all.

Thank you! I've often wondered which form was the correct one. I don't think I ever use "awhile."

Squiggly should try Promite, it's less salty. Mmmm, Promite gravy.