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Spaces after period

Spaces after period

Spaces after period

(OP)
Back in high scholl, I was taught in typing class that two spaces should follow at the end of a sentence.  This does make the text easier to follow.
Recently, I have had a drafter question this practice, and he wanted to know if there were any formal rules regarding this.  Are there?

RE: Spaces after period

I was always taught that if you "full justify" (a.k.a. "double justify") your text so that it is flush on both the left and right margin that it is improper to use a double period since the computer will add additional spacing in order to make the line justified on both ends.

However, if you "right justify" then the use of two spaces is correct.

Personally, I use just 1 space no matter what since usually I am double justifying if the option is available (You will note that in this posting that option is not available yet I still chose to use 1 space.)

I think that either one is acceptable as long as it is consistent throughout the entirety of the document.

-Kati

RE: Spaces after period

From the MLA website:

How many spaces should I leave after a period or other concluding mark of punctuation?
Publications in the United States today usually have the same spacing after a punctuation mark as between words on the same line. Since word processors make available the same fonts used by typesetters for printed works, many writers, influenced by the look of typeset publications, now leave only one space after a concluding punctuation mark. In addition, most publishers' guidelines for preparing a manuscript on disk ask authors to type only the spaces that are to appear in print.

Because it is increasingly common for papers and manuscripts to be prepared with a single space after all punctuation marks, this spacing is shown in the examples in the MLA Handbook and the MLA Style Manual. As a practical matter, however, there is nothing wrong with using two spaces after concluding punctuation marks unless an instructor or editor requests that you do otherwise

RE: Spaces after period

There's nothing wrong with two spaces either way, but the convention is two spaces with a nonproportional font (like Courier, in which every character has exactly the same width just like a typewriter), and typically one (though sometimes two) with a proportional font.

The two spaces are very useful for readability with the nonproportional fonts, but nonproportional fonts are fading out of use.  I wouldn't be surprised if style guides that mandate only one space also dictate some proportional font or other, or at least publish that way even if they don't dictate font to the submitter.

On web forums, ya never know what font what you're typing will be displayed in, so it's not a bad idea to put in the two spaces.

I'm typewriter-trained, so I automatically use two spaces, and then if I'm preparing a document for publication I'll do a search-and-replace at the end and change all the double spaces to single.  The one time I helped write a style guide, we deliberately picked single spaces just because when people do them all different ways, it's easier to change all the doubles to singles than to change just some singles to doubles.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376

RE: Spaces after period

HgTX
if you search for: .[space]
you can replace with: .[space][space]

cheers.

  

saludos.
a.

RE: Spaces after period

but that will mess up after every abbreviation.

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376

RE: Spaces after period

it will also change every

".{space}{space}"

 to
".{space}{space}{space}"

Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion
www.kitsonengineering.com

RE: Spaces after period

and the way round that is first to change every ".{space}{space}" to ".{space}"  then change every ".{space}" to ".{space}{space}" .


Doesn't solve the abbreviation problem admittedly.

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

RE: Spaces after period

I learned to type on a typewriter (almost 20 years ago - holy cow!) and the double space after the period is so ingrained into my muscle memory that it would be very difficult not to do it.  I find it makes things a little more readable, so I tend to prefer it.

What bothers me are internet posts or emails wherein the writer forgets there is an "Enter" key on the keyboard and writes one big massive paragraph, often with no space at all after the period.  I suspect these people wonder why no one reads their messages!

RE: Spaces after period

or go back and change every ".{space}{space}{space}" to ".{space}{space}"

Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion
www.kitsonengineering.com

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