Wednesday 8 August 2012

Everyday is not every day

When do we use every and day as one word everyday, and as two words every day?

The two are not interchangeable.

The single-word everyday is an adjective meaning ordinary, usual, or happening daily. It is usually used before a noun, as the following examples illustrate:

(1) The manual is written in simple everyday language.
(2) Long traffic jams are an everyday occurrence on this road.

A common mistake is to use everyday sentence-initially or sentence-finally, turning it into an adverb that it is not:

(3) *He jogs everyday.
(4) *Everyday, she waters the plants

In both (3) and (4), the correct adverbial is the two-word every day:

(4) He jogs every day.
(5) Every day, she waters the plants.

Because every day means each day, one simple test is to substitute each day for every day. If the resultant sentence sounds right, use every and day as two words.

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