Daily

Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question about "daily" and compare it to last week's Ask a Teacher question.

We will answer a question from Malvin, a visitor to our website.

Question:

Malvin writes: I would like to know about the difference between "everyday" and "daily".

Thanks.

Answer:

Dear Malvin,

Thank you for writing to us! Last week, we answered Yuna's question about "everyday" and "every day." This week we look at the difference between those words and the word "daily."

Daily as an adjective

"Daily" can be used as an adjective or an adverb. As an adjective, it means happening regularly or day to day. "Daily" can be a synonym for "everyday" (one word). Last week, we learned that the word "everyday" (one word) describes regular events.

My everyday schedule includes waking up early, going to the gym and making breakfast.

So, we can exchange "everyday" (one word) for "daily" in this statement.

My daily schedule includes waking up early, going to the gym and making breakfast.

But we cannot use "daily" in place of "everyday" (one word) when it means common or usual.

Daily as an adverb

"Daily" can also be an adverb. When used this way, "daily" can take the place of "every day" (two words). Here are some different examples comparing "daily" to "every day" (two words).

I listen to music every day.

I listen to music daily.

Getting enough sleep every day can help our memory.

Getting enough sleep daily can help our memory.

In both sets of examples, "daily" can be exchanged for "every day" (two words) because it is used as an adverb. It also describes how often events, activities or usual things happen.

You can use "daily" like "everyday" (one word) as an adjective to describe something that happens day to day. You can also use "daily" as an adverb to describe how often something happens.

Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you, Malvin!

What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@VOAnews.com. Be sure to tell us where you are from in your email.

And that's Ask a Teacher.

I'm Faith Pirlo

Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.

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synonym – n. a word that is similar in meaning to another word

schedule – n. a plan of tasks and when to do them

memory – n. the ability to remember something in your mind

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