"Whilst" = while but there is no need to use "whilst": it is more formal and much less common than "while". "While" has two usages. See these examples: a) I saw my friend while (I was) driving my car. [You can omit "I was" because it's obvious] Two things are happening at the same time. b) Every day, I drive to work while my friend usually goes to work on foot. Simple contrast. You can replaced "while" with "whereas" in b) but not a). "Whereas" is more limited in use and much more formal. In practice, we would never use "whereas" for the situation described in b), but rather in academic or other formal situations.

Hi Rodolfo, While "while" can be used to indicate synchronicity and contrast, "whereas" can only be used for the latter. Thus, your last example would have to be something like: "I can stay at home and listen to podcasts, whereas you have to go to work and make money" - "I X whereas I Y" sounds (logically) wrong to me. "while" can be used for synchronicity and by extension for contrast (so both "I can listen to English podcasts while I am going to work" and "I can listen to podcasts while you cannot" are OK). Actually, there is a slight difference between "while" and whereas even when used for contrast. "While" really means at the same time, so you can also use it for mild contrasts like "while I don't care too much for podcasts, I listen to them once in a while" (whereas does not fit here). "Whereas" is closer to "on the other hand": "You love podcasts whereas I don't." (while would be OK here, too). So, they can be synonyms in some cases, but not always. When in doubt, use while ;-). "whilst" is indeed a synonym of "while" - it sounds rather archaic / literary to me, but that may also be a regional question ... Cheers, Aurelio

They can all be used interchangeably, but "while" and "whilst" can also mean "during the time that..."