Awhile versus A While

As I get older I seem to become more forgetful, and have problems with stuff I once knew well. However, with “awhile” versus “a while” I think I have generally always had problems remembering the correct usage. Here is how it should be:

“Awhile” is an adverb. It means “for a while.” As an adverb, “awhile” usually modifies a verb – as in “I will wait awhile.”

“While” is a noun. It means “a period of time” (and “a” is an indefinite article modifying it). Usually, the two words “a while” is used when following a preposition – as in, “I will wait for a while” – or with the words ago or back (a while ago; a while back).

A Table of All the Pronouns

 

The British Grammar: Or, An Essay in Four Parts…, James Buchanan. 
London: A. Millar, 1762, p. 102

This versus that

Some of you probably aren’t as crazy about various odd details concerning words as I am. I was fascinated noticing the usage of my/mine and thy/thine in the King James Bible – also O/Oh.

Thine and Thy.

“Thy” and “thine” are the singular possessive case of thou/thee (used as an attributive adjective before a noun). For example, thy seed, thy table, thine eyes, thine heart.

Thy = Possessive (usually used before a noun that begins with a consonant, as in “thy brother”)

Thine = Possessive (usually used before a noun that begins with a vowel or vowel sound, as in “thine eyes”; or in place of a noun, as in “this is thine”)

Examples

• In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
• in thy mouth, and in thy heart
• I will not take any thing that is thine
• Lift up now thine eyes
• What is that in thine hand?
• thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever (thine = that which belongs to thee)

Interesting – both thine heart and thy heart are used

“Thy heart” is found in 19 verses of the King James Bible – 14 in the OT and 5 in the NT.

All (19)

Old Testament (14)

• Genesis (1)
• Deuteronomy (4)
• 1 Samuel (2)
• 2 Kings (1)
• Proverbs (1)
• Ecclesiastes (2)
• Isaiah (2)
• Daniel (1)

New Testament (5)

• Matthew (1)
• Mark (1)
• Luke (1)
• Acts (1)
• Romans (1)

“Thine heart” is found in 103 verses in the King James Bible – 97 in the OT and 6 in the NT.

All (103)

Old Testament (97)

• Exodus (1)
• Leviticus (1)
• Deuteronomy (19)
• Judges (5)
• 1 Samuel (4)
• 2 Samuel (2)
• 1 Kings (3)
• 2 Kings (3)
• 1 Chronicles (1)
• 2 Chronicles (5)
• Job (5)
• Psalm (2)
• Proverbs (19)
• Ecclesiastes (2)
• Song of Solomon (1)
• Isaiah (6)
• Jeremiah (6)
• Lamentations (1)
• Ezekiel (8)
• Daniel (2)
• Obadiah (1)

New Testament (6)

• Acts (4)
• Romans (2)

Numbers of verses based on searching for “thy heart” and “thine heart” in the “Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)” at BibleGateway.com.

Mine and My.

“My and Mine indicate a type of right to something or any possession of anything.”

Usually (possibly) “my” is a possessive adjective (a form of the possessive case of “I” used as an attributive adjective; my car, my sweater) and “mine” is a possessive pronoun (a form of the possessive case of “I” used as a predicate adjective; the yellow sweater is mine, mine is the red car). Or, stated another way, “my” is a possessive adjective that comes before a noun, while “mine” is a possessive pronoun that can stand alone. However, this seems to be a more modern definition that does not always align with the use of “mine” in the King James Bible. Many dictionaries will likely say that “mine” used as a possessive adjective is “archaic.” In the KJV “mine” is used instead of “my” before a word beginning with a vowel or a silent h, or following a noun). For example, mine eyes.

Interesting – both mine heart and my heart are used

“My heart” is found in 180 verses of the King James Bible – 166 in the OT and 14 in the NT.

All (180)

Old Testament (166)

• Genesis (3)
• Exodus (4)
• Deuteronomy (5)
• Joshua (1)
• Judges (2)
• 1 Samuel (3)
• 2 Samuel (3)
• 1 Kings (7)
• 2 Kings (1)
• 1 Chronicles (5)
• 2 Chronicles (4)
• Nehemiah (2)
• Esther (1)
• Job (9)
• Psalm (57)
• Proverbs (9)
• Ecclesiastes (9)
• Song of Solomon (2)
• Isaiah (9)
• Jeremiah (14)
• Lamentations (3)
• Ezekiel (7)
• Daniel (1)
• Hosea (3)
• Zechariah (1)
• Malachi (1)

New Testament (14)

• Matthew (3)
• Luke (1)
• John (1)
• Acts (2)
• Romans (2)
• Philippians (1)
• Colossians (1)
• Hebrews (3)

“Mine heart” is found in 50 verses in the King James Bible – 48 in the OT and 2 in the NT.

All (50)

Old Testament (48)

• Genesis (1)
• Deuteronomy (2)
• Joshua (1)
• Judges (1)
• 1 Samuel (3)
• 1 Kings (2)
• 2 Kings (2)
• 1 Chronicles (3)
• 2 Chronicles (2)
• Nehemiah (1)
• Job (2)
• Psalm (8)
• Proverbs (1)
• Ecclesiastes (8)
• Isaiah (1)
• Jeremiah (7)
• Lamentations (2)
• Hosea (1)

New Testament (2)

• Acts (2)

Numbers of verses based on searching for “my heart” and “mine heart” in the “Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)” at BibleGateway.com.

O and Oh.

“O” is addressive, used at the beginning of a line to show a direct address to a person, object, or idea. Some call it “a poetic apostrophe.”

“Oh” is expressive, an interjection we use to express a bunch of different emotions, like a sense of surprise, excitement, or even disappointment.

“O” occurs over a thousand times in the King James Bible.

• “O Lord” occurs in 335 verses.
• “O Father” occurs in 3 verses.
• “O son of ...” occurs in 6 verses.
• “O man ...” occurs in 9 verses.
• “O men ...” occurs in 1 verse.
• “O foolish ...” occurs in 3 verses.
• “O wicked ...” occurs in 2 verses.
• “O righteous ...” occurs in 1 verse.
• “O king ...” occurs in 48 verses.
• “O prince’s...” occurs in 1 verse.
• “O woman ...” occurs in 1 verse.
• “O Zion” occurs in 6 verses.
• “O Jerusalem...” occurs in 16 verses.
• “O Samaria ...” occurs in 1 verse.
• “O Israel ...” occurs in 35 verses.
• “O Jacob ...” occurs in 11 verses.

“Oh/oh” occurs in 37 verses in the King James Bible, all in the OT.

Old Testament (37)

• Genesis (5)
• Exodus (1)
• Judges (2)
• 1 Samuel (1)
• 2 Samuel (2)
• 1 Chronicles (2)
• Job (9)
• Psalm (11)
• Isaiah (1)
• Jeremiah (3)

Numbers of verses based on searching for “O” and “Oh” in the “Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)” at BibleGateway.com.

King James Bible Pronouns, Updated Chart

You Again

Quoting two authors.

“It is true that Elizabethan English is more precise than modern English in its use of pronouns. Nevertheless I confess that, as a preacher, I would rather specify the exact meaning of the odd ambiguous pronoun now and then, than explain all the archaisms in the text of the KJV.” (Donald A. Carson, The King James Version Debate, p. 98)

On the one hand, men like Carson insist that a Bible must be translated so that the reader can understand without the assistance of a preacher. On the other hand, here Carson admits he is willing that the readers be left out of understanding certain places. He picks and chooses what he desires to explain and what he does not.

“How often does your inability to distinguish singular ‘you’ and plural ‘you’ trip you up in your daily English reading or conversation? Almost never. Context almost always distinguishes the two sufficiently...” (Mark Ward, Authorized, p. 100)

Carson calls this problem “the odd ambiguous pronoun now and then,” and Mark Ward tells us the indistinct “you” trips you up “almost never.” However, this is not the whole truth, and our experiences with modern English tell us otherwise.

Two brief points.

For a Bible study in 2021, I quickly put together a list of two dozen verses to illustrate how significant the ye/thee distinction can be. (See some of them Here.) Did Jesus tell Nicodemus you must be born again, or did he tell him you must be born again? Which is it? Rather than the “the odd ambiguous pronoun now and then,” there are hundreds of places in the Bible where the use of “you” for either second person singular or second person plural can make it difficult to understand the passage.

Our own practices belie the claim that the number of “you” is not a problem. We know instinctively that we need to make the distinction between singular and plural “you,” even though our modern language has betrayed us! We modern – yea, even educated – English speakers, despite what they teach otherwise in schools, have devised numerous ways to let our hearers know we mean “you plural” – y’all, you’uns, youse, and you lot, for examples.

These difficulties should not be brushed aside. They, like other interpretational difficulties, should be met and overcome through prayer and Bible study. Additionally, we who use the King James Bible have an interpretational tool built right into the text, when it comes to you and you.