Date: Tue, 6 Jun 1995 11:09:22 -0500 From: Gerald Walton Subject: Re: a while/awhile ?? > "For a while, the hope of achieving such a standard rested on the > shoulders of WorldFIP and ISPF. " My memory of some "rule" from the past is that the two separate words are used when the "while" is clearly the object of the preposition--"I read my e-mail for a while last night." And "awhile" is used when it is clear that it is just an adverbial modifier--"I read e-mail awhile last night." GWW