Hey, everyone—welcome to another English grammar lesson—and, more specifically,
to the third installment of our Commonly Confused Words mini-series. Again, if you haven’t checked
out the other two, feel free to do that, and when you’re ready, let’s get into it.
So we’re starting off here with “a while” and “awhile.” So “a while,” two words, simply means
“a while”—a period of time. “I can only stay for a while.” “This test might take you a while.”
“Please, just wait a while longer.” So, again, just a period of time; it’s that simple.
“Awhile,” one word, on the other hand, means “for a while.” So if you’re ever trying to
decide which one of these to use, just ask yourself, “Can I say ‘for a while’ here?”
And if the answer is yes, then you want “awhile,” one word. Like this… “Come stay awhile.” Right?
So, this works because “awhile,” one word, means “for a while,” so what we’re really saying here is
“Come stay for a while,” and that’s good.” But this—“This may take awhile.”—would
be wrong, right? Because if we read this as “for a while,” then this sentence would technically say,
“This may take for a while.” And that’s not what we want, right? Okay, so let’s look at a couple
more good ones… “I think I’ll read awhile before bed.” I think I’ll read for a while. And finally,
“Keep quiet awhile, please,” as in keep quiet for a while. So, one last time, “a while” two words
means just that: “a while,” a period of time. And “awhile,” one word, means “for a while.” Okay,
for our next pair, we have “already” and “all ready.” Again, pretty simple here
too. “Already,” one word, means “before now”—that something has been done or taken place before now.
“I already turned in my essay.” “I’ve seen this movie already.” “I understand this already.”
Very simple, right? All of these sentences suggest that something that has been done or has
taken place before that time. And “all ready,” two words, means “completely prepared”—that
everyone or everything is ready. “I think we’re all ready to go,” meaning I think that
all of us are ready to leave. “They were all ready to get started,” meaning that everyone
was ready to begin. “The pancakes are all ready if you want some.” All of them are ready—all the
pancakes. All right? So, it really doesn’t get much simpler than that: “Already,” one word,
means “before now,” and “all ready,” two words, means “completely prepared.” Moving on, we have
“a lot” and “allot.” Okay, so “a lot,” two words, is probably the one you’re already familiar with,
so we shouldn’t need to spend that much time on it. It just means “a large number,”
“a large amount,” “many,” right? “We have a lot of new students this year.” “They go swimming a lot.”
“Wow, you have a lot of toys.” Simple, right? Now, “allot,” one word, means “to give or portion
something out.” Like, “One hour of practice time has been allotted to each team,” meaning that
an hour of time has been given to each team so that they can prepare. Or “Rick will allot one
car to each of his children,” meaning that he will give or portion out one car to each of his kids.
And finally, “Each year, our company allots half of its profits to research and the other half to
charity,” meaning that every year, our company devotes fifty percent of its profits to charity
and fifty percent to research. So, again, one last time, “a lot,” two words—very basic—just
means a large number or a large amount of something, and “allot,” one word,
means to give or portion something out. And finally, we have “all together” and “altogether.”
So, again, let’s just try to keep it simple. With “all together,” two words,
we’re just talking about things that are, well, together—all in one place, all in one group.
“We were all together on Sunday.” “We went, all together, to the game.” “The receipts were all
together on the table.” Okay, very simple—multiple people, multiple things, being together.
Now, “altogether,” one word, means “completely” or “totally.” “I was altogether terrified by the
movie,” meaning I was completely or totally scared by it. “She doesn’t like cats altogether,” meaning
that she does not like cats at all; she totally or completely dislikes them. “He has ten children
altogether,” meaning that, in total, he has ten kids; that’s the complete sum of his children.
All right? So, “all together,” two words, means that everything or everyone is in the same spot,
and “altogether,” one word, means totally or completely. Cool!
Well, whether you came here for a refresher or are just now learning this stuff for the first time,
I hope this video helped. Be sure to check out the free practice down in the description,
and—uh—we’ll see you next time. Thanks.