two spaces or one

  • Thread starter Thread starter Stephen Larivee
  • Start date Start date
S

Stephen Larivee

What is the preferred way of typing today, to put one or two spaces at the
end of a sentence?
 
You've opened a can of worms, but the conventional wisdom is two only for
monospaced fonts, one for proportional. Many people disagree, however.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org
 
Stephen said:
What is the preferred way of typing today, to put one or two spaces
at the end of a sentence?
Click to expand...

Preferred by whom?

This is the subject of one of those never-ending wars, akin to PC-vs.-Mac.
Neither side will give in soon.

One side maintains that one space is "correct" or at least sufficient when
writing in proportional fonts, and that the two-spaces practice is a
holdover from the fixed-pitch typewriter era. The other side maintains that
two spaces look better and improve readability even in proportional fonts.

Word takes a more hands-off approach. You can set either preference in the
Spelling & Grammar options dialog, but an infraction will only be marked,
not automatically changed.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
One of my managers and I have differing opinions on this topic. I'm a single
space, he'd a double space. When I'm working on something he worked on, I
have to struggle with the desire to get rid of the extra space.
 
I'll quickly hijack this thread Jay. You once kindly sent me service pack 1
foir Word 2000. Can you help re the help file? -- see other thread.

news:uKir%[email protected]...
 
For what it's worth, in Swedish texts this isn't an issue at all: always one
space, even if you use an ancient typewriter...

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP



JoAnn Paules said:
One of my managers and I have differing opinions on this topic. I'm a
single space, he'd a double space. When I'm working on something he worked
on, I have to struggle with the desire to get rid of the extra space.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"



Jay Freedman said:
Preferred by whom?

This is the subject of one of those never-ending wars, akin to
PC-vs.-Mac. Neither side will give in soon.

One side maintains that one space is "correct" or at least sufficient
when writing in proportional fonts, and that the two-spaces practice is a
holdover from the fixed-pitch typewriter era. The other side maintains
that two spaces look better and improve readability even in proportional
fonts.

Word takes a more hands-off approach. You can set either preference in
the Spelling & Grammar options dialog, but an infraction will only be
marked, not automatically changed.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so all may benefit.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I used to be a two space man, but my understanding is that this was
necessary when we used fixed spaced fonts like Courier. Now with kerning
etc.the single space is sufficient. I confess that I still find myself doing
it though.

(But I resist the horrid modern practice of lower casing the i and omitting
most punctuation!)
 
In all my years of using any word processor, I have never once had anyone
contact me to point out whether there is one too many spaces in my
documents. Nor have they complained that there were'nt enough spaces.

The bottom line is, who really cares? Except maybe those who chastise others
for top posting ;-)

Tom
: Stephen Larivee wrote:
: > What is the preferred way of typing today, to put one or two spaces
: > at the end of a sentence?
:
: Preferred by whom?
:
: This is the subject of one of those never-ending wars, akin to PC-vs.-Mac.
: Neither side will give in soon.
:
: One side maintains that one space is "correct" or at least sufficient when
: writing in proportional fonts, and that the two-spaces practice is a
: holdover from the fixed-pitch typewriter era. The other side maintains
that
: two spaces look better and improve readability even in proportional fonts.
:
: Word takes a more hands-off approach. You can set either preference in the
: Spelling & Grammar options dialog, but an infraction will only be marked,
: not automatically changed.
:
: --
: Regards,
: Jay Freedman
: Microsoft Word MVP
: Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
: all may benefit.
:
:
 
When I'm writing, I usually do the one-space method -- though I grew up &
was taught the two-space method (even then, my typing teacher was cranky
about the fact that I hit the spacebar with *the wrong thumb!).

When I'm editing articles for a newsletter I don't usually go through &
eliminate any two-spaces, though I do change paragraph formatting to
extra-space-after rather than the two-carriage-returns.

Actually, for the newsletter I do, I just make it look as easily-readable as
possible. I don't hold to any hard & fast rules even with the styles I've
set up & been using for years.

I don't remember what I did for my thesis 15 years ago but I didn't get any
complaints about it.
bj
 
The bottom line is, who really cares? Except maybe those who chastise
others for top posting ;-)
Click to expand...

Top posting is a heinous crime, for which you should be flogged around the
fleet.

Dave

And no emoticon get-out, it's a serious business y'know.

:-\~
 
: In article <[email protected]>,
: [Snippy]
:
: > The bottom line is, who really cares? Except maybe those who chastise
: > others for top posting ;-)
:
: Top posting is a heinous crime, for which you should be flogged around the
: fleet.

Which fleet would that be?
 
Oh please no! I have enough trouble getting him to communicate in English!
He seems to think I am a mindreader.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"



Stefan Blom said:
For what it's worth, in Swedish texts this isn't an issue at all: always
one space, even if you use an ancient typewriter...

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP



JoAnn Paules said:
One of my managers and I have differing opinions on this topic. I'm a
single space, he'd a double space. When I'm working on something he
worked
on, I have to struggle with the desire to get rid of the extra space.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"



Jay Freedman said:
Stephen Larivee wrote:
What is the preferred way of typing today, to put one or two spaces
at the end of a sentence?

Preferred by whom?

This is the subject of one of those never-ending wars, akin to
PC-vs.-Mac. Neither side will give in soon.

One side maintains that one space is "correct" or at least sufficient
when writing in proportional fonts, and that the two-spaces practice is
a
holdover from the fixed-pitch typewriter era. The other side maintains
that two spaces look better and improve readability even in proportional
fonts.

Word takes a more hands-off approach. You can set either preference in
the Spelling & Grammar options dialog, but an infraction will only be
marked, not automatically changed.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup
so all may benefit.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
;-)

: http://www.fleetlabs.com/index.php
:
: --
: JoAnn Paules
: MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
: Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"
:
:
:
: : >
: > : > : In article <[email protected]>,
: > : [Snippy]
: > :
: > : > The bottom line is, who really cares? Except maybe those who
chastise
: > : > others for top posting ;-)
: > :
: > : Top posting is a heinous crime, for which you should be flogged around
: > the
: > : fleet.
: >
: > Which fleet would that be?
: >
: >
: >
:
 
That would be 'text speak', which may be excusable for texting using a
mobile's buttons but inexcusable in most other places.

I agree: unless you are using a mono-spaced font, one space is correct. You
can change the options in the Grammar checker to highlight 2 spaces.
 
For some reason my similar reply to this post (made eleven minutes before
yours) is not showing up, and one posted by Terry is struck through and
marked as "unavailable." Looks like we're having server upsets again. <sigh>

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org
 
Stephen Larivee said:
What is the preferred way of typing today, to put one or two spaces at the
end of a sentence?
Click to expand...

OK, now since you posted over 10 hours ago and have gotten quite a bit of
advice, here is the definitive answer. It totally depends on your target
audience and personal preference in that order. If you are doing a document
that is going to be published and are told to use a particular style
publication manual then you need to use it for your work.

If this is correspondence to a business associate, where neatness counts,
find out what the company policy may be. After all you are working for the
company. If they don't care, as long as it is neat and readable, then you
shouldn't care either.

I came up through the typewriter days and had to double space after the
period all the time. I now normally single space on a computer as this is
just one less keystroke I have to make between sentences. I still forget
sometime and do put double spaces between sentences some times. Again mostly
it will be personal choice.

Have a great day.
 
Weird. I cannot see my post either. But it was of no great significance.

Terry Farrell
 
:-)

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP



JoAnn Paules said:
Oh please no! I have enough trouble getting him to communicate in English!
He seems to think I am a mindreader.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"



Stefan Blom said:
For what it's worth, in Swedish texts this isn't an issue at all: always
one space, even if you use an ancient typewriter...

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP



JoAnn Paules said:
One of my managers and I have differing opinions on this topic. I'm a
single space, he'd a double space. When I'm working on something he
worked
on, I have to struggle with the desire to get rid of the extra space.

--
JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"



Stephen Larivee wrote:
What is the preferred way of typing today, to put one or two spaces
at the end of a sentence?

Preferred by whom?

This is the subject of one of those never-ending wars, akin to
PC-vs.-Mac. Neither side will give in soon.

One side maintains that one space is "correct" or at least sufficient
when writing in proportional fonts, and that the two-spaces practice is
a
holdover from the fixed-pitch typewriter era. The other side maintains
that two spaces look better and improve readability even in
proportional
fonts.

Word takes a more hands-off approach. You can set either preference in
the Spelling & Grammar options dialog, but an infraction will only be
marked, not automatically changed.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup
so all may benefit.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I had wondered if one of these choices had emerged as the standard for word
processing. I was going to try to adapt to the "one space after the period"
if that were the standard of today. Apparently you can still do it either
way so I will stick with the way I have been typing/word processing for many
years now, two spaces after the period, with no guilt feelings about
violating current usage.

Thank you, everyone, for all the input!!
 
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