I haven’t blogged for a while

Add comment November 6th, 2008

I’m not big on terminology when it comes to teaching grammar, but being able to identify the basic parts of speech is essential.

For example, how do you decide whether to use “awhile” or “a while”? The first is an adverb; in the second, “while” is a noun. You need a noun to serve as the object of a preposition, so “a while” is the right one for phrases such as “for a while” and “in a while.” It’s also the right one idiomatically in “It will take quite a while for the drug to wear off.”

When you need a simple adverb, go with “awhile”:

“We’ll stay here awhile and then move on.”

You could also write it “We’ll stay here for a while,” which would mean the same thing.

Is there a preference? I found just one authority who took a stand on this. He prefers the one-word adverb when you have a choice.

The main thing is to avoid “for awhile.” Prepositions and adverbs don’t mix.