1 or 2 spaces?

[Gelfin]

I was taught to use two, and still do out of force of habit. I almost cannot help it. My muscle memory is trained to double-tap the spacebar after a period when writing prose.

Of course, I also was forced to learn to type on these ancient computers with the keyboard attached directly to a printer, with no CRT and no CPU, that only ran a word processor and had to be corrected with a little bottle of paint.

 

[paolo-]

Anyone know how to do an unseparable space on a mac? I oftenly type in French, where a space is needed between the last word and a double punctuation like ? ! ; ». So if the space is at the end of the line, the punctuation mark will go to the next one. So, unseparable spaces, anyone ?

Singles spaces for me, mind you I'm kind of a freak when it comes to writing and have a problem sticking to 'rules'. I don't really care if words exist or not when I use them. As long as it's understandable and conveys a message well, sometimes a double space is just the answer.

 

[Gelfin]

Anyone know how to do an unseparable space on a mac? I oftenly type in French, where a space is needed between the last word and a double punctuation like ? ! ; ». So if the space is at the end of the line, the punctuation mark will go to the next one. So, unseparable spaces, anyone ?

Singles spaces for me, mind you I'm kind of a freak when it comes to writing and have a problem sticking to 'rules'. I don't really care if words exist or not when I use them. As long as it's understandable and conveys a message well, sometimes a double space is just the answer.

Use OPTION+SPACE to generate a nonbreaking space on a Mac. ALT+0160 on Windows.

 

[cpit]

mmmm i remember all those long hours of mavis beacon teaches typing. i used to have a one space habit, but in mavis beacon, i would automatically screw up the next word if i didn't have two. i'm a changed person after that

 

[0098386]

I've never even heard of people using 2 spaces after hardcore punctuation.

Is 2 an american thing?

 

[xUKHCx]

After you type a sentence, do you type one or two spaces after the period?

Well it seems after you write a sentence you don't even bother with a full stop so why worry?

Is lol the new full stop?

i only see one space there lol

I found out about 2 like a year ago when I was proofreading a paper and I was like "dude you have too many spaces" lol

I still do one

i leave none for a ? when i am typing a question lol

I've never even heard of people using 2 spaces after hardcore punctuation.

Is 2 an american thing?

I've never heard of two either, seems like it is an old standard that isn't taught in the England anymore.

 

[johnmadden78]

Seems to me that for the most part, two spaces goes back to the days of the typewriter and monotype fonts. It doesn't seem necessary these days, but it also seems that it depends on what stylebook you're working from. Personally, I just use one. Anytime I've worked as a copy editor (instances which I freely admit are few and far between) the rule has been one space, but that is AP style. Strunk and White is two, as has been pointed out before.

Anyone have the Chicago manual for a tiebreaker?

 

[Badradio]

It is proper form to use two as it aids readability, but only with monospace fonts. Modern TrueType fonts typically include some padding in front of the first character after a . or ! or ? so adding two spaces is too much, but if you're typing in a monospace font, the "old fashioned/typewriter" rule should really apply.

I spend my working day in FrameMaker, using Times Roman, and it removes all double spaces automatically, so one is the correct form. In my secret life of creative writing, I submit manuscripts in Courier, so it needs two spaces. Of course, I'm conditioned to use one, so I find&replace to two before I send it out.

Oh, And Strunk and White is the bible for grammar, apart from the bits where it's wrong

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I always use two spaces, it is what I was taught years ago when I did a typing course and it makes the finished piece a lot easier to read.

Cheers

 

[cleanup]

I learned it was two after I had been taught or conditioned to think that it was one.

Also, nobody really cares, so I just use one, and to my knowledge, most people still do, when they type at least. I do leave a bit of space when I'm writing, but that's only because it makes it easier to tell where one sentence ends and another begins with chickenscratch.

 

[Melrose]

Periods supposedly get two spaces, versus one for a plain ol' comma.

I used to type two, and still do in formal letters or business correspondence, but day-to-day it's just one. I used to type two everywhere, but HTML broke me of that with it's whitespace handling. And MR. MR handles multiple spaces the same way HTML does.

Once I even caught myself typing a letter, and inserting   after a period..

 

[colourfastt]

Two spaces at the end of a sentence rule is from the days of typewriters; the "modern" rule is one space. However, those of us who learned 'typing' rather than 'keyboarding' typically still use the two space rule.

 

[mscriv]

The Harbrace College Handbook of style states:

Two spaces follow the period, question mark, exclamation point, and the last dot of four-dot ellipsis points; one space follows the colon, the ending parenthesis and bracket, and each of the dots in ellipsis points. No spaces follow the hyphen or dash.​

I was taught and still use two spaces after a period. I understand some programs may automatically change it depending on the formatting, but this is the standard rule I was taught in school.

 

[iGary]

After you type a sentence, do you type one or two spaces after the period?

Absolutely freaking ONE space.

 

[bobr1952]

I'm sure my brain will always put in two spaces since I learned to type on a manual typewriter almost 40 years ago--and that's what I learned then.

 

[colourfastt]

The Harbrace College Handbook of style states:

Two spaces follow the period, question mark, exclamation point, and the last dot of four-dot ellipsis points; one space follows the colon, the ending parenthesis and bracket, and each of the dots in ellipsis points. No spaces follow the hyphen or dash.​

I was taught and still use two spaces after a period. I understand some programs may automatically change it depending on the formatting, but this is the standard rule I was taught in school.

APA: one space follows the period.
MLA: one or two spaces (one is preferred).

 

[ucfgrad93]

When I learned how to type on a typewriter way back in 7th grade, I was taught 2 spaces after a period. I still use that today.

 

[Mousse]

Two spaces at the end of a sentence rule is from the days of typewriters; the "modern" rule is one space. However, those of us who learned 'typing' rather than 'keyboarding' typically still use the two space rule.

I use the two space when typing a typewriter. Yeah, some of use still use typewriters; I prefer the old manual ones. Slapping the carriage return handle is the one joy I get out of using a typewriter. I hate using those modern electric ones, might as well type on a computer. When typing on a computer I use one space.

 

[takao]

one ... unless you still use a typewriter ...

 

[Jaffa Cake]

One space.

As several others have mentioned, the two space rule is a hangover from the days of the typewriter and it's monospaced type – folk were taught that to help distinguish the start of the sentence a double space should be used.

However, with proper fonts there's no need to use two spaces at all. If you do, you end up with ugly great gaps all over the place and typographically it's all wrong. However, whenever I receive copy from a client as sure as eggs is eggs it'll have double or even triple spaces in there, which then need to be removed. Honestly.

Just don't get me started on multiple exclamation marks.

 

[Badradio]

The Harbrace College Handbook of style states:

Two spaces follow the period, question mark, exclamation point, and the last dot of four-dot ellipsis points; one space follows the colon, the ending parenthesis and bracket, and each of the dots in ellipsis points. No spaces follow the hyphen or dash.​

. . .

A four-point ellipsis? Surely they mean three?

 

[northy124]

I type with one space after the period, it was how I was taught

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

My phone automatically adds the period and capitalizes the next letter, when I use 2 spaces.

 

[Bobdude161]

Two, because that's the right way!

 

[xUKHCx]

My phone automatically adds the period and capitalizes the next letter, when I use 2 spaces.

That is a shortcut for adding a full stop, also notice it actually only gives one space when it does this.

Two, because that's the right way!

That is obviously a point for debate.