everyday

Everyday is most commonly used as an adjective meaning daily or, in a more figurative sense, ordinary, as in an everyday occurrence. The phrase every day means each day—it functions as an adverb to describe how frequently an action is done, as in I try to exercise every day. 

Think of it this way: everyday is used to describe nouns, while every day is used to describe verbs.

For example, a person might aspire to go for a run every day, eat vegetables every day, and read every day. If they did these things every day (or most days), these activities would constitute part of their everyday routine.

If you can replace the term with regular or ordinary, use everyday. If you can replace it with each day, use every day. Careful—the word daily can be used to replace both terms in certain situations (such as I exercise every day and This is one of my everyday exercises).

Here’s an example of everyday and every day used correctly in the same sentence.

Example: Every day this week I’ve tried to change one thing about my everyday routine.

Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between everyday and every day.

Should everyday or every day be used in the following sentence?

I see my sister _____ except Saturday.