Everyday vs Every Day. Is Everyday One Word or Two?

Last Updated on August 13, 2023 by Nathaniel Tower

Aside from apostrophes placed where they don’t belong, my top grammatical pet peeve is misusing “everyday” and “every day.” It’s probably a bit irrational, but it grinds my gears beyond belief. Hell, I’ve even stopped using products after finding this error on the packaging.

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This is one of the few mistakes I see on a regular basis in professional writing and ad copy. I’m talking news articles, advertisements (both print and digital), official website copy, packaging (food, health and beauty products, etc.), and other places where you’d think some type of competent proofreader would be able to catch a simple mistake before it goes live. But big brands around the world make this mistake every damn day. This post is going to help you make sure you never make this mistake again.

When to use every day as two words vs. everyday as one word

It’s quite simple, really. I’m going to avoid getting into the technical details and put it in the easiest terms possible. Hell, I’m not even going to talk about parts of speech, which is really hard for this former English teacher to do.

Here are the easiest examples I can think of:

You poop every day.

Pooping is an everyday thing.

Do you see the difference? You should, but let’s dive just a tiny bit deeper to make sure it’s clear.

When to use every day as two words

We’ll start with “every day” as two words for two reasons:

1. Every day is far more common than everyday (or at least it should be)
2. This is the one people usually mess up (they use “everyday” when they really mean “every day”)

“Every day” should be written as two words when you are talking about how often you do it. Here are some examples:

• I write every day.
• I run every day to stay in shape.
• I shop every day.
• Every day I’m shuffling.
• Save 10% every day.
• Use toothpaste every day for best results.
• I encounter the wrong form of “everyday” pretty much every day.

Seems pretty straightforward, right? But I see many examples of major brands using everyday as one word in examples just like the ones above. More on that later. Let’s move to the other one.

When to use everyday as one word

“Everyday” is one word when it is modifying or describing a thing. Here are some examples:

• Writing is an everyday task for me.
• I’m an everyday pooper.
• Use your store credit card for everyday savings.
• Seeing the wrong form of “every day” has become an everyday occurrence for me.

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There. That covers 99% of the uses of every day and everyday. Do you get it? I sure hope so. It really isn’t that hard. It’s arguably easier than apostrophe usage, and that’s pretty damn easy as well.

Tips for using everyday vs every day correctly

Here are some tips that might help you remember if you are ever in doubt regarding which to use:

If it’s at the end of a sentence, it’s always going to be two words.

• • This is something I do every day. YES! Two words.
  • Note: It doesn’t have to appear at the end of the sentence to be two words. It’s just always two words when it does. Here’s an example of it being used in the middle of a sentence: This face wash is gentle enough to use every day without drying out your skin.

Try replacing it with “a lot.” If it works, then it’s going to be two words.

• • I write a lot. YES! Therefore, it should be “I write every day.”
  • Exercise should be an a lot habit. NO! Therefore, it should be “exercise should be an everyday habit.”

Try removing it from the sentence completely. If the sentence doesn’t work without it because it loses all meaning, then it should be two words. If the sentence works but loses a little meaning, then it should be one word.

• • I write every day. I write. This loses all meaning. Therefore, two words.
  • I have an everyday drug habit. I have a drug habit. This does not lose all meaning. Therefore, one word.

Change it to “every single day.” If that works, then it should be two words.

• • I eat sushi every single day. YES! Make it two words.
  • Use your credit card for every single day savings. NO! A rational human would not utter such a statement. Make it one word.

I hope it’s pretty clear at this point. If it isn’t, please leave a comment and let me know where you are still confused. I know I’m oversimplifying things here, so there may be some situations where it’s unclear which one to use.

Again, it really isn’t that hard in 99.9% of situations. I know, I probably sound salty and bitter at this point. You might even think this is a pointless tirade. But it isn’t. If we mess up these simple everyday things, then what else will we mess up every day?

Examples of every day and everyday being misused in the real world

I am fed up with the misuse of “everyday” and “every day.” So fed up, in fact, that I’m going to use this blog post to call out every single example I see. My goal is not to embarrass anyone. It’s to raise awareness and hopefully get everyone to correct this mistake.

Here is the first victim:

Sky Zone

Sky Zone is an international chain of trampoline parks with hundreds of locations in several countries. They should have a big enough budget to hire a good copywriter. But they have several errors in their copy. I didn’t go looking for errors on their site. I just happened to notice them when I was looking up pricing information.

Check out this page:

https://www.skyzone.com/minneapolis/promotions/3573-annual-pass-play-everyday

On the page promoting their daily pass, they say “PLAY EVERYDAY.” They make this mistake multiple times. In the menu, in the page copy, in the URL. The mistake is everywhere.

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Obviously, this should say “PLAY EVERY DAY” because it is talking about how frequently you will play. But they used it wrong.

Here is a screenshot of one instance of the mistake:

Sky Zone, get it together and fix this mistake!

In addition to this error, they also incorrectly use a hyphen on the homepage: “Jump for 90-minutes a day.” Sorry, Sky Zone, but “90 minutes” should not be a hyphenated adjective in this case. You mean “Jump for 90 minutes a day.”

Interestingly enough, this is virtually the exact same mistake as the “every day” vs. “everyday” one. But you’re probably tired of reading about this by now.

I would imagine there are plenty of other mistakes in their copy, but I’m not trying to be their proofreader. These two examples just JUMPED out at me (pun definitely intended).

Masters of Chaos

You’d think a company that claims to be brand marketing experts would understand the basics of grammar. Not these guys. They have also fallen into the “everyday” trap.

You might have a hard time spotting the mistake thanks to the bad design and horrible color contrast, but here it is: “Our passion is to grow with the brands we work on everyday.” Sorry, guys. It’s “every day.” Two words. Maybe this mistake is part of their chaotic value proposition.

Tula Skincare

The other day I received a postcard in the mail for TULA skincare. The postcard contained this line: “sunscreen you’ll love to wear everyday.” This, of course, is a misuse of everyday. It should be two words, as in “every day.” Although they were offering free sunscreen, I chose not to redeem it because I wasn’t sure how often I could wear it!

More examples coming soon…

I will keep updating this page with more examples as I see them. If the perpetrators fix their mistakes, then I will publicly praise them and update this post.

Everyday vs. Every day FAQ

Where have you seen “everyday” and “every day” misused? What is your biggest grammatical pet peeve? Share your thoughts in the comments. And don’t forget to share this post on all your favorite platforms.

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