a while.とは意味・読み方・使い方

発音

• IPA^(key): /əˈwaɪl/, /əˈhwaɪl/
• 韻: -aɪl

副詞

awhile (not comparable)

1. For some time; for a short time.

   Sit with me awhile.

   • c. 1596–97, Shakespeare, William, The Merchant of Venice‎^[1], act 1, scene 1:

     Gratiano:
     […] Fare ye well awhile:
     I'll end my exhortation after dinner.

   • 1944 May and June, “When the Circle was Steam Operated”, in Railway Magazine, page 137:

     Engine No. 18 went off into a shed to rest awhile, and No. 7, a precisely similar one, backed on to the train in her place.

   • 1979, The Boomtown Rats (lyrics かつ music), “Wind Chill Factor (Minus Zero)”, in The Fine Art of Surfacing:

     I'll slip beneath these sheets and shiver here awhile / I find this happening more frequently these days

2. (米国用法, Pennsylvania Dutch English) In the meantime; during an implicit ongoing process.

   Can I get you a drink awhile?

使用する際の注意点

Awhile as means “for a while” is often considered incorrect to use with a preceding preposition, since one is already supposed: instead of “for awhile”, one should prefer either “for a while” or simply “awhile”. However, “awhile” as object for a preposition is used by renowned writers, is allowed by Merriam-Webster, and is consistent with how other adverbs of time and place are employed.

In Pennsylvania Dutch English, awhile is typically always used to convey such sense; the word is separated as “a while” for the first sense, whether preceded by a preposition or not. Compare “You may sit awhile” (inviting a person to sit while they are waiting) and “You may sit a while” (inviting them to sit for a length of time).

同意語

• (for some time): for a minute, momentarily; see also Thesaurus:temporarily
• (in the meantime): for the moment, meanwhile, meanwhilst, the while

関連する語

• while