Why would he omit the preposition "for" in these lyrics? Is it okay to skip the word "for" if the sentence is casual?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
So here, the preposition "for" is omitted because the noun phrase "a while" functions as the adverb "awhile"! It modifies the verb "stay" and the preposition is no longer needed. Noun phrases functioning as adverbs is a common rule that is broken. So it's not always easy to tell what the correct form is! This broken rule is generally applied to time, weight, distance, and age. Technically, all three of these would be fine to use: Ex: I sat awhile on the bench -> adverb Ex: I sat a while on the bench -> noun phrase as an adverb Ex: I sat for a while on the bench -> noun phrase Other noun phrases as adverbs: Ex: I waited a week to see you! Ex: John drove an hour to the city.
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