JS Tip 541: “Any time” or “Anytime"

A client wants to coordinate details on Monday. 

You send her an email: “Sure. Call me anytime.” 

Whoops. Wait a minute. “Anytime?” One word? 

Should it be “any time”? “Call me any time.” Two words? 

Tough one. Tougher than it looks. 

It’s a beautiful example of how language changes. 

Historically, it was standard to write any time as two words every time. In all uses. In all contexts.

The language changes. Now, it’s acceptable to write anytime as one wordwhen you’re using it as an adverb.

Some readers consider it a casualism, so you may want to stick to the two-word version for formal writing.

• When in doubt, write any time as two words. It might look a little old-fashioned, but it won’t be wrong.

• Anytime is an adverb that means “whenever” or “at any time.” You can use it like you would any other adverb: Call me anytime. Call me often. Call me quickly.

• You shouldn’t use anytime with a preposition like at. If you have a preposition, you need the two-word version: Call at any time.

• You also need the two-word version when you’re talking about an amount of time: Do you have any time to call me today?

We’re grateful for the internet for explanations and examples. Most of this discussion comes directly from https://www.grammarly.com/blog/anytime-any-time/. It’s a good source.