Meaning & use
daily lives
Last updated
“daily lives” is a form of “daily life”.
Meaning
nounplural
The ordinary things that people do every day, such as working, eating, shopping, and spending time with family.
Grammar: Plural noun phrase; use it with a plural possessive, as in people's daily lives. For one person, say daily life.
Patterns
- people's daily lives
- in our daily lives
- affect someone's daily life
Smartphones have changed our daily lives more than any other invention.
The flooding disrupted the daily lives of thousands of residents.
In their daily lives, most people rarely think about where their food comes from.
Common combinations
- in our daily lives
- Technology plays a huge role in our daily lives.
- people's daily lives
- The new law will affect people's daily lives in small ways.
- part of daily life
- For many commuters, delays are just part of daily life.
- disrupt daily life
- The storm disrupted daily life across the region.
Synonyms and how they differ
- everyday life
- Very close in meaning and often interchangeable, but 'everyday life' can be singular or uncountable and sounds slightly more formal.
- routine
- A routine is a fixed set of habits; daily lives is broader and includes work, family, and leisure.
Word family
- daily life noun
- The singular form, used for one person's ordinary routine.
- daily adjective
- Happening every day, as in a daily routine.
Commonly confused: daily lives or everyday?
daily lives vs everyday
Everyday is an adjective meaning ordinary or usual, as in everyday clothes. Do not write 'everyday lives' when you mean the lives people lead each day; use 'daily lives' or 'everyday life'.
Practice
Choose the best completion: 'The internet has become part of ____ for billions of people.'
Choose one answer.
'Part of daily life' is the fixed phrase when talking about life in general. 'Daily lives' would need a plural possessive like 'people's daily lives', and 'everyday lives' is not standard.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “daily lives”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.