While or Whilst? Lots of students ask me what's the difference between while and whilst. Many articles online will tell you that they are interchangeable conjunctions and that there is no difference, however whilst this may bare some truth (notice how I just used whilst), it is not wholly correct. 'While' is a period of time. Eg : "Someone called while you were out" (where while is used for the period of time the person wasn't at home) or "The project isn't worth your while". The second sentence uses while to represent the person's time. 'Whilst' is used when you're doing two things at once. Eg : "I was eating whilst I watched TV". Or, "She was writing whilst listening to music". It is incorrect to say "She was writing while listening to music", however you may say "While she was writing, she was listening to music". 'Whilst' is British English, and hardly ever heard outside of Britain unless used to convey an old fashioned tone. The big difference is that 'While' can also be used as a noun. For example, “We decided to stay for a while.” “Whilst” cannot be used in this capacity. I hope that helps.