Every day, I practise my everyday yoga.
She puts on her everyday shoes to send and fetch her kids every day.
His everyday meal consists of an egg, spinach and very little rice. But he was getting stronger every day.
His everyday routine upon waking up is scrolling Instagram. He does that every day but doesn’t realise its adverse effects.
Every day he loves her more because it’s never the everyday kind of love from a daughter.
Ooops!
Isn’t that a common error that WE DO NOT REALISE WE MAKE almost every day to the fact that it has become an everyday grammar error among us? But that’s okay, we are here to improve ourselves and to appreciate small little improvements done every day that build into an everyday practice of eloquent communication to convey your message/thoughts/ideas effectively to your global audience. Are you ready?
‘Everyday’ means normal and ‘Every day’ means daily.
Did that shock you, my friend?
Alright. Let’s take a deep breath and repeat. ‘Everyday’ means normal and ‘Every day’ means daily.
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Before we start, let’s do a little throwback on how most people started with English sentences. Most of us were brought up with simple sentences such as:
I go to school everyday.
I drink milk everyday.
Everyday I brush my teeth.
And now…. Let’s take a moment to let that phase of ignorance past.
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Alright.
‘Everyday‘ and ‘Every day‘, carry TWO different meanings. As adults we should be able to distinguish the difference when presenting our work, no ifs and buts. By being aware of the small nuanced difference in spelling, creating memorable phrases for our presentations is much easier. And let’s not forget to mention. more impactful i.e EVERYDAY QUALITY, EVERY DAY! written across a brand exudes an unforgettable tagline on the consistency of their quality.
Without further ado, let’s delve into each sentences given above to understand the difference between ‘everyday‘ and ‘every day‘ better.
Example 1. Every day, I practise my everyday yoga.
In the sentence above, we know that the person means to say that yoga is his/her daily routine. But here’s the catch: if you didn’t know that ‘everyday’ meant normal, you wouldn’t have known that he/she has a fixed routine of yoga movements.
In Bahasa Melayu, the sentence above is translated as, “Setiap hari saya mengamalkan rutin yoga saya.” It is NOT, “Setiap hari saya mengamalkan yoga” because that warrants for the sentence: I practise yoga every day.
Was that clear?
Example 2. She puts on her everyday shoes to send and fetch her kids every day.
In the sentence above, we know that the person puts on shoes when sending and fetching her kids daily. But here’s the catch: if you didn’t know that ‘everyday’ meant normal, you wouldn’t have known that she has a pair of shoes meant for simple tasks.
In Bahasa Melayu, the sentence above is translated as, “Dia memakai kasut biasanya untuk menghantar dan mengambil anak-anaknya setiap hari.” It is NOT, “Dia memakai kasut untuk menghantar dan mengambil anak-anaknya setiap hari” because that warrants for the sentence: She puts on her shoes to send and fetch her kids every day.
Example 3. His everyday meal consists of an egg, spinach and very little rice. But he was getting stronger every day.
In the sentence above, we know that the person eat healthily and became stronger. But here’s the catch: if you didn’t know that ‘everyday’ meant normal, you wouldn’t have known that his regular meal is very minimal yet he was building strength over the days.
In Bahasa Melayu the sentence above is translated as “Selalunya dia makan telur, bayam dan sedikit nasi. Namun semakin hari dia menjadi semakin kuat.” It is NOT, “Setiap hari dia makan telur, bayam dan sedikit nasi. Namun semakin hari dia menjadi semakin kuat” because that warrants for the sentence: Every day he eats an egg, spinach and very little rice. But he was getting stronger every day.
There is a huge difference in meaning between ‘Eating an everyday meal’ VS ‘Eating a meal every day.’
Example 4. His everyday routine upon waking up is scrolling Instagram. He does that every day but doesn’t realise its adverse effects.
In the sentence above, we know that the person’s morning routine is scrolling his social media feed and is oblivious of its effect on him. But here’s the catch: if you didn’t know that ‘everyday’ meant normal or mundane, you wouldn’t have known that he might not be enjoying this routine.
In Bahasa Melayu, the sentence above is translated as “Dia terbiasa menatal suapan Instagram sebaik terjaga dari tidur. Dia tidak sedar akan impak negatif perbuatan hariannya.” It is NOT, “Setiap hari dia menatal suapan Instagram sebaik terjaga dari tidur. Dia tidak sedar akan impak negatif perbuatan hariannya” because that warrants for the sentence: Every day he scrolls his Instagram upon waking up. He does that every day but doesn’t realise its adverse effects.
Example 5. Every day he loves her more because it’s never the everyday kind of love from a daughter.
In the sentence above, we know that his affection for his daughter grows daily because it’s a special kind of love that he feels. But here’s the catch: if you didn’t know that ‘everyday’ meant normal or usual, you wouldn’t have known the message the sentence is trying to impart. You might even suspect the he doesn’t get to see his daughter daily.
In Bahasa Melayu, the sentence above is translated as “Setiap hari dia semakin sayangkan anak perempuannya kerana kasih dari seorang anak perempuan tiada tolok bandingannya.” It is NOT, “Setiap hari dia semakin sayangkan anak perempuannya kerana kasih sayangnya tidak dapat dirasai setiap hari” because that warrants for the sentence: Every day he loves her more because he doesn’t feel that kind of love daily.
Suddenly the sentence has a sad turn!
And the even sadder part is, it is not even the message that you were trying to convey in the first place 🙁
That is why here at the Baini Mustafa blog, I put a great emphasis on grammar to convey your message/knowledge/idea effectively. I hope you now see the huge difference between ‘everyday‘ and ‘every day‘ and use this knowledge to let English Language be your advantage.
I’m also curious, is there any grammar questions that you would like me to answer? You may leave a line in the Comment section below or you may subscribe to The Baini Mustafa Weekly Email from this link. I would be happy to reply with an answer that suits the understanding of local Malaysians to the best of my ability. You may also enjoy learning how to correct common grammar errors among Malaysians from my book, The Janitor’s Elysium: Grammar Errors Begone! which is available for purchase here.
Until then, remember that whatever knowledge you have in your head is only as good when you communicate it out to the best of your ability. Do your ideas some justice by presenting it in the most effective manner to your global audience. I am always here to help!
