while
conjunction /waɪl/
/waɪl/
(also formal whilst especially in British English)
Idioms - during the time that something is happening; at the same time as something else is happening synonym when
- We must have been burgled while we were asleep.
- Her parents died while she was still at school.
- While I was waiting at the bus stop, three buses went by in the opposite direction.
- You can go swimming while I'm having lunch.
- shoes mended while you wait
- used to contrast two things
- While Tom's very good at science, his brother is absolutely hopeless.
- Some people work better to music while others do not.
Language Bank contrastcontrastHighlighting differencesTopics Opinion and argumentb1- This survey highlights a number of differences in the way that teenage boys and girls in the UK spend their free time.
- One of the main differences between the girls and the boys who took part in the research was the way in which they use the internet.
- Unlike the girls, who use the internet mainly to keep in touch with friends, the boys questioned in this survey tend to use the internet for playing computer games.
- The girls differ from the boys in that they tend to spend more time keeping in touch with friends on the phone or on social networking websites.
- Compared to the boys, the girls spend much more time chatting to friends on the phone.
- On average the girls spend four hours a week chatting to friends on the phone. In contrast, very few of the boys spend more than five minutes a day talking to their friends in this way.
- The boys prefer competitive sports and computer games, whereas/while the girls seem to enjoy more cooperative activities, such as shopping with friends.
- When the girls go shopping, they mainly buy clothes and cosmetics. The boys, on the other hand, tend to purchase computer games or gadgets.
- (used at the beginning of a sentence) although; despite the fact that…
- While I am willing to help, I do not have much time available.
Language Bank neverthelessneverthelessConceding a point and making a counterargumentTopics Opinion and argumentb2- While the film is undoubtedly too long, it is nevertheless an intriguing piece of cinema.
- It can be argued that the movie is too long. It is nonetheless an intriguing piece of cinema.
- The film is undoubtedly too long. Still, it is an intriguing piece of cinema.
- Of course, huge chunks of the book have been sacrificed in order to make a two-hour movie, but it is nevertheless a successful piece of storytelling.
- Critics are wrong to argue that the film’s plot is too complicated. Certainly there are a couple of major twists, but audiences will have no difficulty following them.
- It is true that you cannot make a good movie without a good script, but it is equally true that a talented director can make a good script into an excellent film.
- It remains to be seen whether these two movies herald a new era of westerns, but there is no doubt that they represent welcome additions to the genre.
Word OriginOld English hwīl ‘period of time’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wijl, German Weile; the conjunction is an abbreviation of Old English thā hwīle the ‘the while that’.
Idioms
while you’re/I’m etc. at it
- used to suggest that somebody could do something while they are doing something else
- ‘I'm just going to buy some postcards.’ ‘Can you get me some stamps while you're at it?’