play illustrated notebook that says everyday vs every day
Commonly Confused

'Everyday' vs. 'Every Day'

A simple trick to keep them separate


They're two of the most-confused words in English. Here's a simple method to sort them out.

Transcript

The choice between everyday, one word, and every day, two words, depends on how it's used. Everyday, one word, is an adjective meaning "used or seen daily," or "ordinary." "The phone calls were an everyday occurrence." Every day, two words, is an adverb phrase meaning "daily" or "every weekday." "They go to the coffee shop every day." One trick to remember which is which is to see if you can put another word between "every" and "day," as in "every single day." If you can, you want the two-word adverb.

Up next

play illustrated notebook that says everyday vs every day
'Everyday' vs. 'Every Day'

 

A simple trick to keep them separate

play video schwa
The Schwa

 

The most common vowel sound in English causes many spelling problems.

play fun funner funnest
Fun, Funner, Funnest

 

Why does it sound strange to say 'funner' or 'funnest?'

play video its vs its
Its vs. It's

 

Some practical guidance, and interesting history, about a common mistake.

play mrs malaprop
What is a Malaprop?

 

We'll tell you all the perpendiculars

play video hopefully
Hopefully

 

We believe the popular usage of this word is correct

play is none singular or plural video
Is 'None' Singular or Plural?

 

Or both? Or neither?