The dilemma of everyday vs. every day is not uncommon. There’s no significant difference in pronunciation, but using the wrong one when writing is a mistake in the everyday English you use every day. These two words face the same problem as anytime and any time, or anyone and any one—compounds can cause a lot of confusion. So, let’s look at how we define and use everyday on one side and every day on the other.

What’s the difference?

Everyday

Everyday is a commonplace, ordinary, or normal adjective. Everyday is a single word that serves as an adjective, meaning it is used in front of a noun to describe something as normal or commonplace. The term “everyday clothing” refers to the clothes you wear on a regular basis, as opposed to outfits reserved for special occasions or holidays. Everyday is occasionally used as a noun by people as a shorthand way of referring to their daily routines. Similarly, a “everyday dinner” is a common meal (such as pizza). In a sentence, a noun almost always comes after the word every day.

Examples:

– These shoes are great for everyday wear.

– You shouldn’t wear an everyday outfit to the wedding.

Every day

Every day, on the other hand, is an adverbial phrase composed of the adjective every and the noun day. Every day means “each day.” The easiest way to remember this is to consider the space between the two words. Because of the space, “every” is just an adjective that modifies the word “day. ” It’s as simple as that!

Examples:

– I go to the park every day.

– I have to work every day this week except Friday.

Final tip..

If you’re still having trouble distinguishing between everyday and every day and aren’t sure when to use which, remember that in every day, you can easily replace “every” with “each.” So, if you’re asked how frequently you wear striped stockings, you’d say, “I wear striped stockings every day.” It still makes sense if you substitute “every” for “each”: I wear striped stockings each day. On the other hand, it would be incorrect to say “I wear striped stockings eachday.”

Are you writing a business e-mail or a blog post and need to make sure whether you wrote it correctly? Our proofreaders will gladly help!