all right

all right

is still the preferred way of writing this common expression. The alternative form alright, despite its much higher frequency, is not fully accepted, although there are various arguments in its favour, especially: (1) the need to distinguish it from the use in which all is a pronoun and not an adverb, as in He finished the crossword and got it all right, (2) the analogy of altogether, already, etc., which similarly need to be distinguished from two-word forms having other meanings, and (3) its pronunciation as a single word. None the less, all right should be used for the time being, not alright. Examples: (all right)

• One advantage of the permissive society is that it's all right to live together before marriage —Woman's Own, 1971

• It's all right for you…You won't have to do the post-mortem with these guys —Len Deighton, 1974

• ‘Oh, all right’, she said, ‘go and be damned.’ —Graham Greene, 1980

• (alright) They've been bloody inscrutable alright —P. Cave, 1979

• You'll be alright, love —Chinua Achebe, 1987

• If you've got the ears to know what sounds good you're going to be pretty much alright —Guitarist, 1992.