Sometimes I wonder if I’m using the correct form of a word. For example, should it be “awhile” or “a while”? Is there a way to tell?
First, whenever I consider the possibility of a confusing word, I look at how it is used in a sentence. What part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.) is it functioning as? (If you need a refresher on parts of speech, check out the Chomp Chomp Grammar site. It’s geared towards students, but explains things nicely.)
For “awhile” and “a while” the correct usage comes down to how the word is used in the sentence.
“A while” is a noun. “Awhile” is an adverb.
The meanings of the two words are very similar too: “A while” refers to a length of time. “Awhile” means “for a time” or “for a while.” (Confusing, huh?) So, you could get caught up in figuring out exactly which meaning you are intending, but the simplest solution is to go back to the usage.
Which word would you put in the blanks in the following sentences?
- I plan on going out to the docks for ______.
- My friend is staying _______.
If you know the parts of speech and how they function in a sentence, you will recognize that “for” in Sentence 1 is a preposition. Every preposition requires an object of a preposition, which grammar tells us is a noun or pronoun. So… the correct answer for Sentence 1 is the noun – “a while.”
In Sentence 2, the blank is telling us “how long” the friend is staying. Adverbs answer the question “how long” so the correct answer is “awhile.”
I found this nifty little test on Grammar Mudge to check your choice:
“The test of which to use is to consider whether ‘for a while’ may be used in the sentence where we intend to place the word ‘awhile’ – without changing anything else.”
The site goes on to give some examples to illustrate the test. Here’s two of their examples:
- “I’ll wait here awhile” is correct because we could also say, “I’ll wait here for a while.”
- “I’ll wait here for awhile” is not correct because we have actually used the word “for” twice, given that awhile = for a while: “I’ll wait here for for a while.”
Clear as mud, right? 
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