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United States flagIlene SpringerProfessional Teacher
Everyday OR every day?
Even native-English speakers get this wrong! When do you use everyday and when do you use every day?

We use everyday when we mean daily—happening each day.
I don’t like to wear my everyday clothes to church; I like to dress up on Sundays.

We use every day when we mean all the days of the week.
I like to take a walk every day before work.

Hope this helps!

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Comments · 3

4
I'm a native English speaker also, and I respectfully disagree with your distinction between "everyday" and "every day."

"Everyday" is an adjective. It is always followed by a noun. It means: normal; commonplace; ordinary; typical; mundane

Examples:
People at my church don't dress up for Sunday services. They just wear their everyday clothes. (They wear "casual" clothes or their "regular" clothes to church. "Everyday" describes the noun "clothes.")

In everyday conversation, it's common to use slang, but you shouldn't use it in formal writing. (In "ordinary" or "casual" conversation it's common to use slang. "Everyday" describes the noun "conversation.")

In everyday life, Clark Kent was a news reporter. In times of crisis, he turned into Superman. (In "normal" life, Clark Kent was a news reporter.)
"Every day" is an adverbial phrase. It describes "when" or "how often" something happens. It means: each day; daily

I wear a uniform to work every day. (You wear a uniform "each day" you go to work.)
I call my mother every day, no matter how busy I am. (You call your mother "daily". )
I know I should exercise every day, but I'm usually too tired. (I know I should exercise "each day" of the week.)

An easy way to remember which you should use is that if you are talking about WHEN something happens, or HOW OFTEN it happens, use "every day." If you are describing something, use "everyday."
0
"Everyday" and "every day" have similar definitions. That's why many people are confused as to which one to use.

I acknowledge that you used "everyday" and "every day" correctly in your examples. However, I think your explanation for why they are correct is not quite accurate since you gave essentially the same definition for both terms.

To determine which one is correct, students need to look at how they use the words in a sentence. "Everyday" is an adjective. "Every day" is an adverbial phrase. That's what distinguishes them, not that one means "daily" and the other means "all the days of the week".

Please understand that my initial post was aimed primarily at people on italki who are learning English, not you. I thought that a longer post with more examples and definitions would be helpful to them. Obviously, as a native speaker and ESL teacher, you didn't need such an extensive explanation!
0
Thanks, Walkabout, for your clarification. Indeed, your explanation of the meaning of everyday as normal; commonplace; ordinary; typical; mundane is correct. However, we do agree on the words used in context. Thanks for noticing. Ilene

More info: The definition of everyday is daily or is something ordinary, regularly used or not fancy—according to the dictionary. I really don’t think we disagree! :)

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