All rightand alright are a pair of words that may sometimes be confused because one is the complete spelling of the phrase while the other is a one-word version of the former. This post will help you understand whether these two words are actually the same or if they have different uses and meanings.
The term all right may be used as an adjective meaning “in proper or satisfactory condition” or “acceptable or allowable.”
“Dave Roberts says Dodgers will be all right vs. Leftie”
Los Angeles Daily News“The Kids Are All Right-Home Schooling Dad/Author Mike Evans Says Let Kids Be Kids”
The Huffington Post“Coldwell Confident That Price Will Be All Right on Saturday Night”
British Boxers
The phrase may also be used as an adverb meaning “in a satisfactory manner or to a satisfactory extent; fairly well.”
“Review: Elton John is all right on a Saturday night in Eugene”
Oregon Daily Emerald“We are doing all right in second place — Warburton”
The Times“Gilks on debut: It kind of went all right didn’t it?”
Wigan Today
Meanwhile, the term alright is considered a one-word spelling of all right and is used the same way.
“Suicide Squad is now an Oscar-winning film, and that’s alright”
FanSided“The kids are alright as a feast of film hits big screen in Leeds”
Yorkshire Evening Post“Trump is behaving like a ‘maniac’ alright, but it’s not because he has some master plan”
CNBC
Most writers consider all right and alright as interchangeable and have accepted the one-word term in standard English. However, alright is most commonly used in written dialogue and informal writing while all right is considered the only acceptable form in edited writing. In additions, some writers think that using alright could alter the meaning of some sentences:
The numbers he gathered from the survey are all right.
The numbers he gathered from the survey are alright.
In the first sentence, all right is used to mean that the numbers are accurate while in the second sentence, the use of alright makes the numbers just satisfactory.