While vs For - What's the difference?
while | for |
An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.
During the same time that.
* , chapter=12
, title= * 1948 , , North from Mexico / The Spanish-Speaking People of The United States , J. B. Lippincott Company, page 25,
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
, volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Although.
* 2013 September 28, (Kenan Malik), "
(Northern England, Scotland) Until.
* Beaumont and Fletcher
As long as.
* I. Watts
To pass (time) idly.
* Longfellow
To loiter.
Because.
* 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) , Chapter 23
Towards.
Directed at, intended to belong to.
Supporting (opposite of against ).
Because of.
* Shakespeare
Over a period of time.
* Garth
Throughout an extent of space.
* Shakespeare
On behalf of.
Instead of, or in place of.
* Bible, Exodus xxi. 23, 24
In order to obtain or acquire.
* Denham
In the direction of:
* Francis Bacon
By the standards of, usually with the implication of those standards being lower than one might otherwise expect.
Despite, in spite of.
* 1892 August 6, , "The Unbidden Guest", in All the Year Round ,
* 1968 , J. J. Scarisbrick, Henry VIII (page 240)
(chiefly, US) Out of;
(cricket) (used as part of a score to indicate the number of wickets that have fallen)
Indicating that in the character of or as being which anything is regarded or treated; to be, or as being.
* Cowley
* John Locke
* Dryden
* Philips
See the entry for the phrasal verb.
(obsolete) Indicating that in prevention of which, or through fear of which, anything is done.
* Beaumont and Fletcher
As conjunctions the difference between while and for
is that while is during the same time that while for is because.As a noun while
is an uncertain duration of time, a period of time.As a verb while
is to pass (time) idly.As a preposition for is
towards.As an initialism FOR is
field Of Research.while
English
Noun
(en noun)- He lectured for quite a long while .
Conjunction
(wikipedia while) (English Conjunctions)Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=While the powwow was going on the big woman came back again. She was consider'ble rumpled and scratched up, but there was fire in her eye.}}
- While De Anza was exploring the Bay of San Francisco, seeking a site for the presidio, the American colonists on the eastern seaboard, three thousand miles away, were celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Fantasy of navigation, passage=Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.}}
London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):
- While Britain’s recession has been deep and unforgiving, in London it has been relatively shallow.
- I may be conveyed into your chamber; I'll lie under your bed while midnight.
- Use your memory; you will sensibly experience a gradual improvement, while you take care not to overload it.
Verb
(whil)- The lovely lady whiled the hours away.
- (Spectator)
Derived terms
* while away * meanwhile * the whilefor
English
(wikipedia for)Conjunction
(English Conjunctions)- "By means of the Golden Cap I shall command the Winged Monkeys to carry you to the gates of the Emerald City," said Glinda, "for it would be a shame to deprive the people of so wonderful a ruler."
Preposition
(English prepositions)- The astronauts headed for the moon.
- I have something for you.
- All those for the motion raise your hands.
- He wouldn't apologize; and just for that, she refused to help him.
- (UK usage) He looks better for having lost weight.
- She was the worse for drink.
- with fiery eyes sparkling for very wrath
- They fought for days over a silly pencil.
- To guide the sun's bright chariot for a day.
- For many miles about / There's scarce a bush.
- I will stand in for him.
- And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for' life, eye '''for''' eye, tooth '''for''' tooth, hand '''for''' hand, foot ' for foot.
- I am aiming for completion by the end of business Thursday.
- He's going for his doctorate.
- Do you want to go for coffee?
- People all over Greece looked to Delphi for answers.
- Can you go to the store for some eggs?
- I'm saving up for a car.
- Don't wait for an answer.
- What did he ask you for ?
- He writes not for' money, nor ' for praise.
- Run for the hills!
- He was headed for the door when he remembered.
- We sailed from Peru for China and Japan.
- Fair for its day.
- She's spry for an old lady.
][http://books.google.com/books?id=XNwRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA133&dq=%22but+for%22 page 133,
- Mr. Joseph Blenkinshaw was perhaps not worth quite so much as was reported; but for all that he was a very wealthy man
- For all his faults, there had been something lofty and great about him - as a judge, as a patron of education, as a builder, as an international figure.
- For that to happen now is incredibly unlikely.'' (=''It is incredibly unlikely that that will happen now. )
- All I want is for you to be happy.'' (=''All I want is that you be happy. )
- We take a falling meteor for a star.
- If a man can be fully assured of anything for' a truth, without having examined, what is there that he may not embrace ' for true?
- Most of our ingenious young men take up some cry'd-up English poet for their model.
- But let her go for an ungrateful woman.
- We'll have a bib, for spoiling of thy doublet.