Noun vs. Verb
On shopping carts online, I see the word “checkout” a lot and I was wondering if it’s supposed to be two words or not. I think it should be if it’s a verb… and in those cases, it is a verb. They want you to check out – to check out your cart.
- A Checkout is a place… like, I want to go to the checkout.
- If you check out, that’s a verb – you’re doing something.
I think in either case or if you’re not sure, go with “check out” rather than “checkout.”
I just checked this online and other sources seem to indicate that “checkout” is indeed wrong:
Checkout vs. check out (grammarist.com)
Checkout is a noun and an adjective. The corresponding verb is two words—check out. For example, when you are ready to check out at the grocery store, you wait in the checkout line. Or when you want to check out of your hotel after the standard time, you might ask for a late checkout.
Makes sense… so let’s go to the checkout and check out.
The Website Checkout
I think programmers (and many are in other countries where English is not their first language) get lazy and just say “checkout” wrongly. When you do programming, there typically are not spaces in the names of the functions that you write or refer to. I think this is why you see it written this way and why nobody catches it.
- Checkout – This is a noun, as in “let’s go to the checkout”
- Check Out – This is a verb, as on “check out your order”
On most websites, buttons should say “Check Out” and not “Checkout” since buttons usually have a verb in them since you want the website visitor to take action.
