Deciding whether to use “everyday” or “every day” can be as tricky as choosing where to order takeout from. While we may not be qualified to tell you what food to eat — though you can never go wrong with pizza — we are able to shed some light on the grammatical issue at hand. “Everyday” is an adjective that essentially means “ordinary” or “commonplace.” It’s used to describe objects that you’d typically encounter on a regular basis without any sort of exact schedule. For instance, an outfit that you wear frequently could be described as “everyday clothing.”

“Every day,” by contrast, acts as a synonym for the word “daily” and is used to indicate events that happen each day. For example, “she rides the bus to work every day,” or “he orders the same sandwich every day for lunch.” Here’s a trick: If you can insert the word “single” between the words “every” and “day” and your message remains the same, then “every day” is more appropriate to use than “everyday.” “She rides the bus to work every single day” makes sense, while “she wears every single day clothing” does not. 

“Someday” vs. “some day” and “anytime” vs. “any time” operate similarly. Whenever one of these grammatical conundrums presents itself, keep the following in mind: Closed single words (“someday,” “anytime,” “everyday”) are modifiers, whereas open double words (“some day,” “any time,” “every day”) are noun phrases that are modified by the words that precede them.

Just like everything else in the English language, there are exceptions to that rule. “Anywhere” and “everybody” are almost always written as closed single words. But that’s a topic for a future edition. 

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Do you remember playing the game “Mother, can I?” when you were a kid? Of course not, because it’s called “Mother, may I?” In this elementary game, the chosen “Mother” calls on each player, and they must ask permission to move a certain number of steps. The Mother may grant (or deny) permission, or give an alternative move to perform, but the key is in the asking: “Mother, may I?” If the player forgets to structure their request like this, they’ll never reach the Mother, and the finish line. This playground game teaches children the rules of an essential question in the English language: “May I?”

Going back to Old English roots, the structure of “May I?” has been used to ask for permission. This question is formal, pleasant, and shows respect — when in doubt, go with this option. That said, if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a snarky “I don’t know. CAN you?” retort to your question of “Can I?”, you can take solace in knowing that this structure is perfectly acceptable. “Can I?” is informal, and it’s a good option for casual requests when “may” sounds too ceremonious.  “Can” has multiple definitions — yes, it refers to having the ability to do something (that’s what’s implied by the snarky nonanswer), but in the 1800s, it gained the definition of “to have permission.”

While we’ve resolved the “May I?” vs. “Can I?” debate, there are a few more prospects for asking permission. To get technical, “can” and “may” are modal verbs, meaning they work as helper verbs to express a hypothetical situation (for example, “I can pick up the kids, but if you leave work early, could you?”) Other modal verbs include “might,” “should,” “will,” “must,” and “would.” Depending on the context, several other modal verbs work for asking permission: “Might I ask who is calling?” or “Could I use your phone?” In order of increasing formality, the permission-seeking modal verbs are “can,” “could,” “may,” and “might.” Try to gauge the tone of your conversation and pick your modal verb appropriately. 

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In the real world, purging negativity is an important skill for a happy life. In the grammar world, purging double negativity is crucial for clear and concise writing. Double negatives are redundant thoughts made of multiple negative words; these result in complicated and confusing sentences. However, they aren’t not useful. Every once in a while, an appropriately used double negative can improve your writing, but those occasions are rare.

A double negative is any statement with two negative words. A person might say, for example, “I didn’t see nobody.” The two negatives are “did not” and “nobody.” The problem is that double negatives muddle the intentions, resulting in the opposite meaning. “I didn’t see anybody” would be clearer. Think back to math class — multiplying two negative numbers together cancels out the negative and turns it into a positive. It’s the same with words. Two negatives cancel each other out and turn the statement into a positive. Combining “didn’t” and “nobody” flips the meaning to imply the speaker did see somebody, which wasn’t the goal of the statement.

Common words in double negatives include negative determiners (“no” and “none of”), negative pronouns (“neither,” “no one”), negative adverbs (“not,” “never”), and negative verbs, which are created by adding “not” or making it a contraction (“wouldn’t,” “don’t”). The good news is, a double negative is usually easy to fix by removing one negative word. For example, “I cannot go nowhere tonight” can be fixed by removing “nowhere” to get “I cannot go tonight.”

There are rare instances where double negatives can add flair to your writing, however. If you’re hoping to emphasize a point, you might say, “I can’t not go to this party” for added oomph and drama. Or just ask the Rolling Stones, who famously sang, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” In these cases, the double negatives are used for rhetorical effect. But otherwise, they should be avoided.

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Some bits of advice are instilled in us from a very young age: Eat your vegetables, look both ways before crossing the street, and, of course, never begin a sentence with a conjunction. The latter comes to us directly from grammar class, but is it really a rule? Nope. In fact, it’s merely a suggestion. Starting sentences with a conjunction is perfectly OK in a grammatical sense, and it may even improve your writing.

But let’s go back to basics first. A conjunction is a word that connects two clauses of sentences. Subordinating conjunctions (“because,” “since,” “after,” etc.) link independent and dependent clauses. Correlative conjunctions (“either/or,” “neither/nor,” “such/that,” etc.) join together two words or phrases of equal importance. For example: “Either I’m going to eat this sandwich, or I’m going to eat at home.” People use both types of conjunctions to start sentences, and nobody bats an eye. The controversy usually arises with a third type: coordinating conjunctions.

Coordinating conjunctions link together two independent clauses, and can best be remembered with the acronym FANBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So. Reputable grammar guides, including the Chicago Manual of Style and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage, say it’s acceptable to begin sentences with coordinating conjunctions. The main reason so many people are opposed to this idea is that using these conjunctions as an initial word too often can lead to bad writing habits. For instance, stringing together multiple sentences that start with a conjunction can sound like you’re talking like a 7-year-old: Today, I went to the park. And then I ate lunch. And I saw a dog. But the dog ran away. And then he ran back again. So I smiled. And my lunch fell on the ground.

As a general rule of thumb, it’s best to avoid beginning your sentences with conjunctions as you’re developing your writing skills. But as you’re honing your voice and writing style, it’s fine to experiment a bit, as evidenced by some of history’s most iconic prose. Consider Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, who once wrote, “Yet the Lord of Gondor is not to be made the tool of other men’s purposes, however worthy.” Or read S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, which contains the line, “I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.”

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English is full of sentences that sound awkward but are grammatically correct. Consider trying to untangle the mind-bending “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.” (Hint: “Buffalo” has three distinct meanings and functions as a noun, proper noun, and verb in this riddle.) Then there are phrases that sound OK, but are actually grammatical errors. These mistakes are easier to catch when writing, and more difficult to recognize when someone is speaking (for example, “intensive purposes” vs. “intents and purposes”). One of the biggest culprits of the “easy to mishear” swap comes with contractions and prepositions; we’re saying one thing, but people are hearing another. 

Consider the contraction “could’ve.” “Could” implies both possibility and willingness. It often acts as a helper verb, which means it’s paired with a second verb to make the sentence clearer. For example, “I could go to the dance” implies a chance of attending the dance. But let’s imagine you missed that opportunity and you’re telling a friend about it. You might say, “I could of gone to the dance.” But wait — that’s only what it sounds like. The proper construction of the sentence is “I could’ve gone to the dance,” where “could’ve” is a contraction of “could” and “have.” 

As already noted, “could” requires a second verb so that it can make grammatical sense. This is why we need “have” instead of “of” — the latter may sound similar, but it’s an incorrectly used preposition. The contraction “could’ve” sounds very similar to “could of,” and while it may be near impossible to discern between the two if you’re speaking, swapping them will make a big difference in writing.

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