Who do you say?
WHILE OR WHILST?
FOR A WHILE or FOR A WHILST?
Please respond.
many thanks from Austria
WHILE OR WHILST?
FOR A WHILE or FOR A WHILST?
Please respond.
many thanks from Austria
For a while/whilst?
I have never said "whilst" in my life, as any part of speech! I didn't even know it was still in use until I visited England a few years back, since it looked fairly medieval to me (sorry, Brits!), given that "-st" ending. I also had no idea it was pronounced with a long I, since in wtiting it looks more like it'd be a short I. Oh, well ....
Whilst is usually followed by the present participle, and occurs in adverbial clauses:
Whilst roaming through the glen I glimpsed a fair maiden..
Whilst harvesting, dark clouds descended..
While can be used in the same way but, as I hate spam mentioned, it can also be a noun.
While can also be a verb, meaning to pass the time at a leisurely pace:
I whiled the hours away.
Uriel - we do use whilst occasionally in Britain, but it does give a slightly poetic, archaic register; I would expect it to be used by persons of a literary bent, who perhaps want to show that they are well educated.
I think it's a nice word!
Whilst roaming through the glen I glimpsed a fair maiden..
Whilst harvesting, dark clouds descended..
While can be used in the same way but, as I hate spam mentioned, it can also be a noun.
While can also be a verb, meaning to pass the time at a leisurely pace:
I whiled the hours away.
Uriel - we do use whilst occasionally in Britain, but it does give a slightly poetic, archaic register; I would expect it to be used by persons of a literary bent, who perhaps want to show that they are well educated.
I think it's a nice word!
Occasionally? I heard it all the time! Perhaps it was because it stuck out to me, but I got the impression it was pretty common -- I don't think I ever heard English people saying "while" instead....
I use it often enough, "whilst" ... but, no, never "for a whilst": as mentioned 'tisn't a noun.
To me the only difference is that 'while' can be used as a noun as in 'all the while', but otherwise they are pretty much interchangable. Still I think 'all the while' is an idiom as you don't use 'while' normally as a noun, apart from in a set phrase like I just mentioned.
However I do think it would be slightly more common to say 'while I was doing...' as opposed to 'whilst I was doing....' in the UK, but this could be very much a regional variation.
Whilst does seem a bit more old-fashioned to me, the sort of word I imagine gradually fading out.
However I do think it would be slightly more common to say 'while I was doing...' as opposed to 'whilst I was doing....' in the UK, but this could be very much a regional variation.
Whilst does seem a bit more old-fashioned to me, the sort of word I imagine gradually fading out.
Lolo
FOR A WHILE or FOR A WHILST?
Actually yes, it can be used as a noun in several constructions, as your example shows. But as others have said it would have to be 'while'in that case, not whilst.
Funny how you can say can say 'I spent a while in Germany' but not talk about 'the while I spent in Germany' really. Well, it sounds a bit awkward to me.
Du kommst aus Oesterreich? Gruesse aus England. Viel Spass beim Englisch lernen!
FOR A WHILE or FOR A WHILST?
Actually yes, it can be used as a noun in several constructions, as your example shows. But as others have said it would have to be 'while'in that case, not whilst.
Funny how you can say can say 'I spent a while in Germany' but not talk about 'the while I spent in Germany' really. Well, it sounds a bit awkward to me.
Du kommst aus Oesterreich? Gruesse aus England. Viel Spass beim Englisch lernen!
Lolo
Vielleicht kann ich es dir auch auf Deutsch ein bisschen erklaeren.
While/whilst I was in Austria = Waehrend ich in Oesterreich war
I spent a while in Austria = Ich habe eine Zeit in Oesterreich verbracht
So if you are talking about when you would use 'waehrend' in German, you can use either while or whilst. This is unless it is followed directly by a noun, as in 'waehrend der Woche', in which case you have to say 'DURING the week'.
But if you are talking about when you would use 'eine Zeit' in German, it could only ever be 'a while'.
I do think there is some difference in meaning in English between using 'a while/a time', but I will leave that to others to verify or dispute.
But the main thing is to remember how it is used differently as an adverb/noun as per the example above.
Hope this helps a bit.
Vielleicht kann ich es dir auch auf Deutsch ein bisschen erklaeren.
While/whilst I was in Austria = Waehrend ich in Oesterreich war
I spent a while in Austria = Ich habe eine Zeit in Oesterreich verbracht
So if you are talking about when you would use 'waehrend' in German, you can use either while or whilst. This is unless it is followed directly by a noun, as in 'waehrend der Woche', in which case you have to say 'DURING the week'.
But if you are talking about when you would use 'eine Zeit' in German, it could only ever be 'a while'.
I do think there is some difference in meaning in English between using 'a while/a time', but I will leave that to others to verify or dispute.
But the main thing is to remember how it is used differently as an adverb/noun as per the example above.
Hope this helps a bit.
'Funny how you can say can say 'I spent a while in Germany' but not talk about 'the while I spent in Germany' really. Well, it sounds a bit awkward to me'.
Now I think I am wrong about this, it can be used in the right context. What do others think? Funny how you can become so unsure about your own language lol
Now I think I am wrong about this, it can be used in the right context. What do others think? Funny how you can become so unsure about your own language lol