From an email:
“I am editing a book written by my mother-in-law…what is the difference between Good night and goodnight?”
Good question, and it’s one that stumps many a Reluctant Writer.
It’s two words when you mean:
Good night, as in, “Have a good night.”
It’s one word when you mean:
Goodnight, the wish: “Goodnight, don’t let the Martians bite.”
It can be challenging to distinguish between word pairs that are separated by nothing more than a tap on the space bar…and a grammar lesson from years past.
In this instance, it really does come down to grammar: You could be dealing with a pronoun, adjective, noun, or adverb. It depends on the word pair in question, and how well you understand the underlying grammatical principle.
There’s no basic rule to follow, and reading your work aloud probably won’t help.
In short, it’s frustrating, which is why so many kind-hearted grammarians put together lists like these.
Minus the grammar lesson, I’ve addressed a few commonly confused word pairs below.
Anymore — You don’t bring me flowers anymore.
Any more — I don’t want any more food today.
Every day – I take the bus to work every day of the week.
Everyday – Missing the bus is an everyday occurrence.
Everyone – Everyone cried at the funeral.
Every one – I wish every one at work would join the softball league.
Oftentimes
Often times
Trick question! It’s only oftentimes.
What to do?
The easy fix is to type the word pair into Google and add on, “one word or two.”
If you just use “good night” as two words in every sentence, it would seem that you can’t go wrong. It’s like someone says, “He kissed her good night.” -OR- “She needs a good night’s sleep.” It seems to me just more of a matter of preference.
It’s conceivable that occasions will arise where “often times” is appropriate — there are often times when it could be proper.
But if you can say “goodnight” then is it possible to say “goodmorning” as one word, like, “Have a good morning” and “Goodmorning, take care on the road.”?
Because you can’t, right? Crazy rules.. @___@ what made these greetings different that a rule can’t apply to both?
Eric is correct! I’m tired! Goodnight
I really believe it is what ever is accepted and oftentimes the influence of poor grammar generated by Pop Stars and Hollywood Celebrities that will slowly change the defintions found in your future dictionary.
Yes, I think there’s something to that — plus texting has also degraded the language. I wrote this post a long time ago and I feel like it should be updated… but then again, it’s a slice of what writing used to be like when good writing mattered… What’s funny to me now, as an editor, I’m not so sure I agree with myself anymore!
I think the “everyone” example is wrong. The second part of it should also be one word, and to make it two words I would say “I wish every one of my coworkers would join the softball league.” I believe the rest are fine.
I agree with you, Eric.