While
While and whilst are conjunctions whose primary meaning is "during the time that". An example is:
- The days were hot while we were on vacation.
While and whilst can nowadays legitimately be used in the contrastive sense of although or whereas, provided that it is not ambiguous (although some commentators, such as Eric Partridge, have frowned upon such use):
- While I am here, I can call home.
This sentence can mean either "During the time that I am here, I can call home" or "although I am here, I can call home". Alternatively, in some Northern English and Scottish English dialects, while (but not whilst) usually takes the meaning of until, as in: "I shall wait while you are ready."
Whilst is synonymous with while in standard British English and Australian English; in American English, it can be considered pretentious or archaic. In their style guides, modern publications on both sides of the Atlantic deprecate its use (along with "amidst" and "amongst"), for example:
- Times Online Style Guide: [1]: "while (not whilst)"
- Guardian Style Guide: [2]: "while not whilst"
- Hansard: [3] PDF, the Canadian Parliament record.
Fowler's Modern English Usage deprecates several uses of "while". At times it is inappropriately used as a conjunctive: actual conjunctions like "and" should be used instead. Its usage as "elegant variation" is also discouraged, as it is masquerading as a "formal word".[1]
See also
Notes and References
- ^ "while": Fowler's Modern English Usage, Second Edition, ed. Sir Ernest Gowers 1965 and 1983, and Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage. Ed. Robert Allen. Oxford University Press, 1999