Editing While (section)

===Conjunction===
The primary function of the word as a conjunction is to indicate that two separate [[clause]]s occur at the same time.

:"The days were hot while we were on vacation."
:"I read a magazine while I was waiting."

''While'' can also be legitimately used in the contrastive sense, comparable to the words "although" or "whereas", provided that it is not ambiguous (although some commentators, such as [[Eric Partridge]], have disapproved of such use):

:"While I like cats, my husband is allergic."
:"While Sally plays, Sue works."

The latter sentence can mean either "during the time that Sally plays, Sue works" or "although Sally plays, Sue works" and is thus ambiguous.

''[[A Dictionary of Modern English Usage|Fowler's Modern English Usage]]'' disapproves of several uses of the conjunctive ''while''. At times it is inappropriately used as a [[Grammatical conjunction|coordinating conjunction]]: "and" or "but" should be used instead. Its usage as "elegant variation" is also discouraged, as it is masquerading as a "formal word".<ref>"while": ''[[A Dictionary of Modern English Usage|Fowler's Modern English Usage]]'', Second Edition, ed. Sir [[Ernest Gowers]] 1965 and 1983, and ''Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage''. Ed. Robert Allen. Oxford University Press, 1999</ref>

In some dialects of Northern England, ''while'' is translated into standard English as "until"; for example, "At least wait while we're done."<ref>{{cite book| last = Kellett| first = Arnold| title = Basic broad Yorkshire| year = 1991| isbn = 978-1-870071-82-6| page = 142 | publisher = Smith Settle}}</ref>