A spelling lesson

[therealjae]

Maybe it's the fact that these phrases bear absolutely no resemblance to each other in any of the foreign languages I speak that has me so confused about how anyone could possibly confuse them. But whenever people write "everyday" when they actually mean "every day," or "anymore" when they actually mean "any more," I always want to sit them down and teach them a thing or two about spelling standard written English. I usually refrain -- I mean, I'm a linguist, not a grammarian, and I'm certainly not a spelling professional, whatever that would entail. But lately I've seen one too many smart, eloquent people (and newspapers!) who should know better doing this, and I figured it was about time to bring it up in a place I could point people to later.

Every day vs. everyday

'Every day' is an adverbial phrase. It means "daily." As in: "Every day, lots of people make this mistake just to annoy Jae."

'Everyday' is an adjective. It means "commonplace or ordinary." As in: "Jae is baffled that this turns out to be such an everyday spelling mistake that even educated people make it."

Any more vs. anymore

'Any more' is a phrase that functions adjectivally. It means "no more." As in: "Now that I've explained this, I don't want to see any more mistakes like this from you guys."

'Anymore' is an adverb. It means "now, currently, at this time." As in: "We promise not to make this mistake anymore, Jae."