Chapter 2 Word Choice
117
all right/"alright,"all ready/already,
all together/altogether,
awhile/a while
"All right" is two words; "alright" is non-standard.
But take a look at these "a"-words that work BOTH ways, as one
word OR two.
"All ready" means "completely ready."
v
She has her series on breast-feeding ALL READY.
"Already" means "by this time or before."
v
The crew had ALREADY left.
"All together" means "everyone gathered."
v
The news director brought the producers ALL TOGETHER to
discuss sweeps.
"Altogether" means "entirely."
v
We're not ALTOGETHER sure we should have run that story,
consider all the negative viewer response.
"Awhile" is an adverb.
It can modify a verb (in this case "stay"), but it can't be the object of
a preposition.
v
The desk asked me to stay AWHILE after the 11.
"A while" is made up of an article ("a") and the noun "while," so it
CAN be the object of a preposition, in this case "for."
v
Any manager will wait for A WHILE for you to get up to speed
on a new job.
