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I noticed that some people write "awhile" together in sentences like this:

It's been awhile since ...

While most people seem to write "a while" as two words in sentences like this.

Also, according to this article, "a while" is the right way, because in this sentence "a while" could be replaced with a noun, not adverb: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/while-versus-awhile

My question is, can you really write "it's been awhile since ..", or is it grammatically incorrect and you should write "a while" here instead?

UPDATE: This question is not a duplicate, as I'm asking about a specific sentence rather than awhile vs a while in general.

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    This comment may help: All combinations of for a while, for awhile, a while, and awhile can be used as adverbial phrases, with identical sense and usage. The for is optional, and a while is indistinguishable from awhile in speech, so they have no differences in meaning, or in grammar. Use which ever ones you prefer; all are correct and colloquial, and nothing depends on how you say or spell it. – John Lawler -
    – user66974
    Commented Nov 4, 2016 at 9:08
  • Note also: books.google.com/ngrams/…
    – user66974
    Commented Nov 4, 2016 at 9:09

1 Answer 1

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This a matter of orthography only, not of grammar. Therefore, ‘grammaticality’ does not enter into it — merely orthographic acceptability, which is something else completely different!

Nonetheless, the standard orthography does here depend on the underlying grammatical analysis:

  • Used as an adverb, it’s written as just one word: awhile.
  • Used as a noun, it’s written as two words separated by a space: a while.

Oxford Dictionaries provides two usage notes on this matter:

  • The short UK note is:

    The single word awhile is an adverb meaning ‘for a short time’, and should not be confused with the noun use of a while, ‘a period of time’: stand here awhile, but we stood there for a while

  • The longer US note is:

    The adverb awhile, meaning 'for a short time,' should be written as one word (we paused awhile). The noun phrase, meaning ‘a period of time,’ especially when preceded by a preposition, should be written as two words (Margaret rested for a while; we'll be there in a while). See also worthwhile

There is no transpondian difference here, just differently worded notes.

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  • Oops, missed that this was a duplicate.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Nov 4, 2016 at 4:46
  • Thanks for letting me know that this is a matter of orthography.
    – Sergey
    Commented Nov 4, 2016 at 5:35
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    But the question remains: can I write "it's been awhile since..." or not? Yes or no? The "duplicate" question doesn't really answer this, as I'm asking about a specific sentence rather than awhile vs a while in general.
    – Sergey
    Commented Nov 4, 2016 at 5:37
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    @Sergey Grammar is unaffected by spelling, so no matter how you spell it is still grammatically correct. However, here the spelling is affected by the grammar: do you think the verb be takes a noun phrase in its predicate or an adverb? Most people would say a noun phrase.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Nov 4, 2016 at 5:46

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