2006-08-12 05:49:19 · 6 answers · asked by MrSandman 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
"While" is used in the U.S. "Whilst" is chiefly British; you won't hear it much in the U.S. unless someone is from the U.K. or is trying to be pretentious.
2006-08-12 07:40:20 · answer #1 · answered by Fall Down Laughing 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A man came up to me and asked why I was standing around doing nothing whilst everybody else was joining in.
While I was standing at the corner of our street a police car came down the road with its siren blaring.
Its been quite a while since I read an intelligent question on here.
2006-08-12 12:57:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Since they mean the same thing, I think it depends on what century you're living in. Haven't heard anyone use the word "whilst" in normal conversation since can't remember when, if ever. Maybe you should check with Charles Dickens.
2006-08-12 12:58:18 · answer #3 · answered by worldhq101 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you live in medieval times, you should use "whilst."
2006-08-12 16:35:41 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
One caution: "while" is a time word; do not use it to mean "although", "whereas," etc.
E.g. "Yeats was an Irish poet while Longfellow was an American poet" is incorrect; they were not contemporaries. Replace "while" with "but" or some other conjunction.
2006-08-12 15:03:02 · answer #5 · answered by keepsondancing 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
"While" has a fairly common usage, while "whilst" is mostly obsolete
2006-08-12 12:52:32 · answer #6 · answered by JetDoc 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋