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How many spaces do you put after a period (full stop)?

How many spaces do you put after a period (full stop)?

  • One

    Votes: 32 59.3%

  • Two

    Votes: 22 40.7%
  • Total voters
    54
chown33

chown33

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 9, 2009
10,739
8,415
A sea of green
jessica. said:
4? Dude where?
Click to expand...
It just ends up that way sometimes. I write mostly in plain text, or in a programming language. Sometimes smart-paste will add a space, while plain-paste won't. So sometimes I do "space cmd-V", others "cmd-V" space", or "space cmd-V" space". And sometimes I just fat-thumb the spacebar.

As I said, I don't worry about it much. When I do care, search-and-replace is ready and waiting. And if I bungle search-and-replace, undo is ready for that.
 
Rob.G

Rob.G

macrumors 6502a
Jan 17, 2010
528
85
Arizona
I took a year-long typing/business class in high school and we were taught to use two spaces. Here in forums and stuff, though, browsers won't render multiple consecutive spaces unless you use the "nbsp" tag (which starts with & and ends with ; rather than quotes).

Rob
 
1

184550

Guest
May 8, 2008
1,980
2
I always do two spaces. I don't recall when or how I learned this/ got in the habit but I do remember a classmate in undergrad getting reprimanded by the professor for only doing one space in a paper.
 
pivo6

pivo6

macrumors 68000
Dec 2, 2002
1,750
337
Minnesota
After reading one of the front page articles, I'm replacing all periods with commas. When I do need to end a sentence, I use 1 space after a period. I also wear reading glasses.
 
eawmp1

eawmp1

macrumors 601
Feb 19, 2008
4,158
91
FL
I was (on these old fashioned typewriter things) 2 spaces. Mocked by my kids so I begrudgingly gave up one of them.
 
Scepticalscribe

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,935
46,400
In a coffee shop.
eawmp1 said:
I was (on these old fashioned typewriter things) 2 spaces. Mocked by my kids so I begrudgingly gave up one of them.
Click to expand...

Ah, but what do kids know about grammar, spacing, syntax and stuff such as how to write English correctly?

I'll happily heed what kids have to say about topics such as technology, I may even incline my head - briefly - a token nod towards what they think about arcane matters such as fashion, but the day I take lessons from kids on how to write English has yet to come.
 
eawmp1

eawmp1

macrumors 601
Feb 19, 2008
4,158
91
FL
Scepticalscribe said:
Ah, but what do kids know about grammar, spacing, syntax and stuff such as how to write English correctly?

I'll happily heed what kids have to say about topics such as technology, I may even incline my head - briefly - a token nod towards what they think about arcane matters such as fashion, but the day I take lessons from kids on how to write English has yet to come.
Click to expand...

Did you pay attention to the (poor) pronoun reference? I gave up a kid for his insolence.
 
Scepticalscribe

Scepticalscribe

macrumors Ivy Bridge
Jul 29, 2008
63,935
46,400
In a coffee shop.
eawmp1 said:
Did you pay attention to the (poor) pronoun reference? I gave up a kid for his insolence.
Click to expand...

I did. (But he's your kid, and possessive pronouns trump other considerations in a discussion of this sort).

However, methinks that a feel for syntax, along with the sort of palate that can learn to appreciate good red wine, coffee, and cognac are the sort of acquired tastes that a lack of age and experience will long deny the very young.
 
W

wrosie

macrumors member
Mar 31, 2012
42
0
California
'twas two spaces after a period at the end of a sentence back in the days of typewriters and Courier type. However, now that we have word processors and proportional type, one space is fine.
 
zioxide

zioxide

macrumors 603
Dec 11, 2006
5,737
3,726
Well, in the writing courses I took in college, which was only a few years ago, they still taught 2 spaces between sentences. So, for formal documents, 2 spaces.

On the internet (forums and social networks) I usually only use one though. Sometimes two just because it's kind of a habit while typing now, though most websites will only render one space in HTML anyways.
 
Vader

Vader

macrumors 65816
Oct 11, 2004
1,211
1
Saint Charles, MO
I always use two. I find myself going back through text messages and deleting that second space to squeeze in a few more characters at the end.

Edit: Looks like the forum software automatically trims them down to one space, how rude!
(It shows up as two spaces in the edit though, so my original 2 space content was preserved, it must just change it when it is displayed)
 
r.j.s

r.j.s

Moderator emeritus
Mar 7, 2007
15,026
52
Texas
Vader said:
I always use two. I find myself going back through text messages and deleting that second space to squeeze in a few more characters at the end.

Edit: Looks like the forum software automatically trims them down to one space, how rude!
(It shows up as two spaces in the edit though, so my original 2 space content was preserved, it must just change it when it is displayed)
Click to expand...

Maybe you should just start using one ... ;)
 
LV426

LV426

macrumors 68000
Jan 22, 2013
1,835
2,262
Typing two spaces on the web won't get you very far, because browsers typically render multiple spaces as a single space. Unless you go to some effort.

FYI, screenplays should always be submitted using double spaces after a full stop, for traditional reasons.
 
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