Monday, July 9, 2012

Words Often Used Wrong

Prague was nice, and the Pearl Jam concert was cool, but it's nice to be back home in Budapest.

Every once in a while I post about odd English-language words that trip up many writers. I've done a few such posts, so this one will be a quick one dealing with a new one I've recently run across in my own writing.

Do you use awhile and a while interchangeably? You shouldn't! 'Awhile' is the adverb form of the phrase, though it can always also be used in the noun form 'for a while'.  So you might say 'I ran awhile before going to work.' In this case 'awhile' modifies the verb 'to run' and is an adverb.

'A while' is a noun and is always accompanied by a preposition, so the above sentence could have been written 'I ran for a while before going to work.'

Yes, it's a tricky one, and I tend to use only the noun version myself, but it's good to know the difference.

7 comments:

  1. I only use it as a noun. Glad you're back in Budapest.

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  2. I want to visit Prague, if for anything because they have such a strong gay community there.

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  3. I only tend to use it as a noun too. Stupid language :) I heard the lead singer of Lamb of God was arrested in Prague over the weekend. It's all happening there!

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  4. I have to keep an eye on that one. I'm not sure I always use it correctly. Mmmm.

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  5. I can't remember the last time I used 'awhile'. It was a while ago for sure.

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  6. Ted, that's a good one alright. I'll probably just replace it with "for a fortnight." Save myself the trouble.

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  7. The Grammar Hag is very proud of you.

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