student asking question

What is the difference between “a while” and “awhile”?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"A while" is a noun that refers to a period of time. It could be replaced by a more specific period of time, like "a year". "Awhile" is an adverb that describes doing something for a period of time. Ex: I haven't seen you in a while! Ex: Why don't you go play outside for awhile?

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