Awhile: adverb, modifies a verb, as in, “We stayed awhile in the park.” It answers the question, “How long did we stay?” and immediately follows the verb.
A while: noun phrase, as in, “It’s been a while since we visited the park.” It refers to a time. It’s easy to know which one to use by replacing the phrase with, “It’s been a week since we visited the park.”
Park is both a homonym and a homograph. Park your car. We visited Yosemite National Park. The words are pronounced and spelled the same but have different meanings.
A while: noun phrase, as in, “It’s been a while since we visited the park.” It refers to a time. It’s easy to know which one to use by replacing the phrase with, “It’s been a week since we visited the park.”
Park is both a homonym and a homograph. Park your car. We visited Yosemite National Park. The words are pronounced and spelled the same but have different meanings.
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