When To Use Every Day And Everyday

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Compound words sometimes don’t have the same meaning as the individual words they comprise. For example – anytime and any time, It’s a situation where the whole is different from the total of its parts. Every day and everyday are similar—everyday (without a space) does not mean the same thing as every day (with a space). When speaking, however, they sound the same. It’s no wonder it’s so easy to confuse them with one another. What does each of the phrases mean and how are they used?

Everyday is an adjective used to describe something that is used or seen every day. It means “ordinary” or “average.”

Every day is a phrase that merely means “each day.”

The Difference Between Every Day and Everyday

The dilemma of every day vs. everyday is not an unusual one. These two words present the same problems as anytime and any time, or any one and anyone—compounds can be a source of much uncertainty. Now we’ll look at how we define and use everyday and how we define and use every day in the English language.

Everyday

Everyday (no space) is an adjective. Thesauruses list average, mundane, regular, and standard as synonyms. “Everyday chores,” then, refers to the ordinary cleaning you’ll do on regular days, as opposed to spring cleaning or deep cleaning for dinner parties or holidays. Once in a while, people will use everyday as a noun—it’s a shorthand way of talking about their everyday schedules.

Every Day

Every day simply means “each day.” The best way to remember this is to think about the space that separates the two words. Because of that space, “every” is merely an adjective modifying the word “day.” If you paired every with any other word, it would mean each—every day means “each day,” just like “every word” means “each word.” That’s all there is to it.

If you’re still having trouble with the difference between everyday and every day and you don’t know which one to use, you’ll be fine as long as you remember that in every day you can effortlessly replace “every” with the word “each.” So, if you’re telling someone how often you put on a dress, you’d say “I wear a dress every day.” It will also make sense if you replace “every” with “each”: I wear a dress each day. On the other hand, you can’t say “I wear a dress eachday” because there’s no such word.