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People often mistake the word everyday for the phrase every day.

Have you ever been confused about this? Well, I don't blame you. Not only have I seen people misuse these in casual writing, but I've also seen newspapers and television ads using them incorrectly.

The rule is fairly easy to grasp. Read through this lesson and then take the quiz!

Everyday or Every Day?

The one-word modifier everyday and the two-word phrase every day are not interchangeable.

Exercises

Everyday Every Day

Everyday or Every Day?

Everyday

This is an adjective Encountered or used typically or routinely; a synonym is ordinary. That means that it can only be used to modify nouns. It’s a one-trick pony.

Use everyday as an adjective to mean 'daily'.

As an adjective, this adverb means common or informal. Everyday is perfectly acceptable in formal writing.

-- Hiro has an everyday appointment with his boss for briefings.

-- It is not appropriate to wear everyday clothes to one’s convocation.

Examples:

Adjective

Adjective

Adjective

Adjective

Noun

Noun

Noun

Noun

-- I wore my everyday clothes to the grocery store.

-- Yuna has an everyday yoga class at five pm.

Every Day

This is the form used for all other purposes. It will often be an adverbial phrase. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. This phrase typically modifies verbs.

-- Use every day as a time expression to mean 'each day'.

This adverbial phrase can be replaced by each day. This term may also be used in formal writing. It is not synonymous with everyday.

Examples:

-- Seth eats breakfast at 8:00 every day.

Every day is telling us more about the verbs eats. It tells us when Seth eats.

-- Every day, I read for at least five minutes.

Every day tells us about the verb read. It tells us when I read.

-- Taku studies English every day.

-- Jini pratices the piano three hours every day.

If you can substitute each day for the word in question, use every day.

Tip:

Homework must be left in the professor’s mailbox every day.

Homework must be left in the professor’s mailbox each day.

Exercises

Exercise 3

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Now choose the correct missing word:

1. I have to study . I need a holiday! everyday every day

2. Snow and ice is just part of life in the north of Russia.

everyday every day

3. Rice is part of most meals in Asia. everyday very day

4. I promise to phone my boyfriend when I go to London.

everyday every day

5. If you want to improve your English you should practice .

everyday every day Check Answer

every day

everyday

everyday

every day

every day

6. Tomorrow there will be an eclipse. You should try and watch it because it's not an event.

everyday every day

7. The new Ford is just an small car for shopping and short trips.

everyday every day

8. You should drink 8 glasses of water . everyday every day

9. Do you go jogging ? You look very fit! everyday every day

10. The flu is an illness over the winter. everyday

every day

Check Answer

every day

everyday

everyday

every day

everyday

1. Chii goes to school .(every day, everyday)

2. Jiro has an meeting at ten.(everyday, every day)

3. They'd like to eat popcorn .(everyday, every day)

4. How often have you had an class?(everyday, every day)

5. Yutaka gets up at six in the morning .(everyday, every day)

Now choose the correct missing word:

Check Answer

every day

everyday

every day

everyday

every day

6. Our friends like to have an get together to talk about neighborhood gossip.(everyday, every day)

7. Erin likes having an swim.(everyday, every day)

8. I'd love to have an massage!(everyday, every day)

9. Will you be able to pick him up ?(everyday, every day)

10. They decided to meet until the problem was solved. (everyday, every day)

Check Answer

everyday

every day

everyday

everyday

every day

Check out the following five pictures and decide which are correct and which are incorrect.

Correct

Incorrect

1. Keep calm and smile everyday ---------- WrongHere, everyday is modifying smile. Since smile is a verb, you should have used the adverb every day.

Check Answer

Correct

Incorrect

2. Everyday magic ------- RightThis is an old telephone ad from the 1920s. Isn’t it fun to see how marketing has changed since then? These guys got their ad copy right when they chose everyday. It is modifying magic, which is a noun.

Check Answer

Correct

Incorrect

3. Start every day off with a smile and get it over with. – W.C. Fields -------- Right.We can easily substitute every day with each day, so this is correct.Did you notice that this isn’t an adverbial phrase? Every is just a plain old adjective, and day is just a plain old noun. (For you grammar buffs, day is the direct object of the verb start).

Check Answer

Correct

Incorrect

4. Learn Everyday -------- Wrong Everyday is modifying learn. Learn is a verb, so it needs to be modified by an adverb, not an adjective.

Check Answer

Correct

Incorrect

5. Our commitment to excellence goes beyond the usual! Everyday, we strive to maintain a level of quality to match our reputation in the community. --------- WrongI took the liberty of correcting the wonky capitalization in that sentence.Everyday is telling us more about the verb strive, so they should have used the adverb every day.

Check Answer