‘Everyday’ vs. ‘Every Day’: How to Choose Between the Words

“Everyday” is an adjective (a word that modifies a noun or pronoun) that means "ordinary," "typical," or "occurring on a regular basis." For instance, "everyday errands" are ordinary errands you perform as part of your regular routine. An "everyday conversation" is a typical conversation. An "everyday pair of jeans" is a pair you would wear in a casual, common setting. "Everyday activities" are those that take place on a regular or daily basis.

The compound word “everyday” can occasionally function as an adverb, or a word that modifies an adjective. For example, if a businessman wears an "everyday blue shirt," this suggests the shade of blue is unremarkable.

Use “everyday” to describe things that are typical, occur regularly, or are unremarkable. Here are a few example sentences:

• Traffic is a frustrating part of everyday life.
• It's not a fancy event, so wear your everyday clothes.
• Loud noises are an everyday occurrence in New York City.

“Every day” is a two-word adverbial phrase that describes a verb, adjective, or other adverb. In a sentence, “every day” answers the question of when or how regularly something happens. If you "go running every day," you are describing your routine of running daily. If you "call home every day," you are explaining that you call home every single day.

Sometimes “every day” appears as a noun phrase combining the adjective “every” and the noun “day.” In the phrase, "make every day count," the word “day” is a noun and the word “every” is an adjective describing that noun.

On a grammatical level, there are two ways to use “every day” in a sentence: as an adverb describing a recurring event or as a noun phrase describing a concept. Here are a few examples:

• As an adverbial phrase: I read the local paper every day at breakfast.
• As a noun phrase: Every day in Los Angeles is an adventure.

The single word “everyday” and the two-word phrase “every day” look nearly identical, but they are different parts of speech and have different functions in English grammar. Here are tips for selecting the right word and remembering which one to use:

• Attempt to substitute “each day.” If you can substitute “each day” in place of “every day” in a sentence, then you are using “every day” correctly. If the sentence does not make grammatical sense, however, you should instead use “everyday.” For example, you could say, “Each day I go to the store” or “Every day I go to the store,” but you could not say, “She wore a pair of each day jeans.” The correct version would instead be, “She wore a pair of everyday jeans.”
• Check whether you can insert “single.” If the sentence still makes senses when you add “single” between “each” and “day,” then you are using “every day” correctly. For example, you could say, “She wore a pair of jeans every single day” or “She wore a pair of jeans every day,” but you could not say, “She wore a pair of every single day jeans.”
• Remember the parts of speech. “Everyday” can only be an adjective. Use it to describe something ordinary, unremarkable, or typical or when something occurs on a vaguely regular basis. Use “every day” when a thing happens every single day or when you want to indicate something in a more conceptual sense (“Every day next to the ocean is a vacation” or “Live every day to the fullest”).

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