Certain sets of words in the English language tend to confuse people. I have found the following to be among them:
A WHILE / AWHILE
There is good reason for confusion here since these two terms mean almost the same thing except that one of them, a while, is often preceded by a preposition while the other, awhile, should not be.
The single word awhile is an adverb and means for a while. The word while, on the other hand, can serve as several different parts of speech, but the one we are concerned with here is the noun referring to an unspecified period of time.
It is grammatically correct to use a while as the object of the preposition for or in. Do not use a preposition with the adverb awhile.
INCORRECT: I’ll be out of town for awhile.
CORRECT: I’ll be out of town for a while.
INCORRECT: I’ll be back in awhile.
CORRECT: I’ll be back in a while.
INCORRECT: I’ll be gone a while. Will you be all right alone?
CORRECT: I’ll be gone awhile. Will you be all right alone?
ALSO CORRECT: The sun won’t set for a while. Let’s stop and rest awhile before continuing our hike.
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