Everyday or every day?
Which sentences are correct?
- I read the newspaper everyday.
- Everyday, I wear the same necklace.
- Chaos is an everyday event around here.
- Every day is a new beginning.
The correct sentences are C and D.
Why?
As a single word, everyday is an adjective that modifies a noun and means “ordinary.”
As two words, every day is made up of an adjective and a noun and may be used in one of two ways:
- as a noun phrase that serves as the subject of a sentence and means
“each 24-hour period” - an adverbial phrase that modifies a verb and means “daily”
Here are the correct versions of the sentences.
- I read the newspaper every day.
- adverbial phrase → I read the newspaper daily.
- Every day, I wear the same necklace.
- adverbial phrase → Daily, I wear the same necklace.
- Chaos is an everyday event around here.
- adjective → Chaos is an ordinary event around here.
- Every day is a new beginning.
- noun phrase → Each 24-hour period is a new beginning.
Every day is the correct choice of term 90% of the time. So if you simply cannot remember which is which, play it safe and use two words!
