Everyday Versus Every Day: Do You Really Do Your Everyday Chores Every Day?

The words “everyday” and “every day” are words all of us use many, many times a day.  When we say them, there is no difference because they sound exactly the same, but when we write them there is a definite difference.  The word “everyday” is written as one word with no space between them, and the word “every day” is written as two words and does have a space between them.
 
These two words belong to a group of words called “compound words.”  A compound word is two or more words put together as a single unit with a specific meaning. In the case of a two-word compound word, there may be a space between them or the words may be put together as one word.
 
Does the space between “everyday” and “every day” mean anything, or do these compound words mean the same thing?  Too many people make the mistake of misusing these words.  The space between them makes all the difference in written language.  They DO have different meanings and are two different types of words.
 
Let’s take a look at the word “everyday” first.  It is made up of the two words “every” and “day”, but they are put together without a space between them and is considered a single unit.  Without the space, the word “everyday” is an adjective to mean something that is typical, common occurrence or something that is seen or done each day.  For example, “My everyday exercising program lasts 30 minutes.”  In this sentence, the word “everyday” describes my exercising program and means a program that I typically do each day. 
 
The word “every day” also consists of the two words “every” and “day”, but here we put a space in between them.  With the space, these two words become a noun.  The phrase is used to mean each day. To make it easy, think of the word “easy” as describing the word “day” so that it means “each day.”  For example, “Every day I go to work.” 
 
Hopefully, you will now feel more confident when writing everyday words correctly every day!