SEPARATED COMPOUND WORDS

English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)

SEPARATED COMPOUND WORDS

The government talks about social distancing ~everytime~ but many won’t observe it still (nonstandard).
The government talks about social distancing every time but many won’t observe it still (standard). Note that although other compounds such as everywhere, everything and everyone are written as single-word compounds, every time is separated.

The federal and state governments should ~breakdown~ all they had spent on palliatives (nonstandard).
The federal and state governments should break down all they had spent on palliatives (standard). Note, however, that when break down is used as a noun, it is written as a single-word compound: The government has given a breakdown of donations.
GAB