I know some people at work who insist on just one space after a period. I always thought that it was two spaces (I remember something from high school typing class, lol)...thoughts?
2006-09-26 16:21:37 · 35 answers · asked by The ~Muffin~ Man 6 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Hey Muffin Man -- great question and still up for debate among those of us who regularly write for a living. Generally, though, now that we're in the land of word processing and variable sized fonts (e.g., the letter i takes up only as much room as it needs), we use only one space between sentences, and, more importantly, use bold and italics for emphasis and book titles -- NO MORE UNDERLINES. Also, we use tables to align rows and columns of text (but good lord, people still torment us with drafts that use tabs).
Short answer -- just one space. We don't used fixed fonts anymore.
2006-09-26 16:25:02 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
On the computer it is one, on the typewriter it is two.I know this because I just finished a key-boarding class and like you I was taught two spaces after a period. I don't know about you but it's been an awful long time since I was in high school. I am taking collage courses and I have some of the best grades in my reports and writings. If the punctuation were wrong I would be marked down.
2006-09-26 16:27:15 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's definitely two spaces after the period. One space doesn't give it enough room to separate sentences. And...you are right, high school typing class teaches two spaces!
2006-09-26 16:24:07 · answer #3 · answered by Kevin C 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the past, 2 spaces were used do to type writers or something like that. Now 1 space is the standard.
Check MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd edition)
ONE SPACE! Everyone that says 2 spaces is clueless!
2006-09-26 16:24:06 · answer #4 · answered by nr91326 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It was always 2, but sometime in the 80s or 90s some twerp with enough literary power had it changed; it's now up to the writer to add two spaces or one. Being an archaic old dogmatist, I still use 2. And that's as it should be.
2006-09-26 16:24:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
After a period, you always put 2 spaces.
2006-09-26 16:37:58 · answer #6 · answered by Leah 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
2 spaces
2006-09-26 16:23:42 · answer #7 · answered by free2b 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In primary school I was taught to type with two spaces. While studying Business Communication at university, I was told that if you are sending text to be published (brochures, newsletters, etc), then the standard is only one. Apparently, a lot of time and money is wasted by print houses having to remove the 'extra' spaces.
Not sure how true this is, but its definitely what my tutor told me.
2006-09-26 20:51:57 · answer #8 · answered by lear_student 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Two spaces are used as an effaces to the end of the statement. One space is used between words and after commas.
2006-09-26 16:31:21 · answer #9 · answered by Mark G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to the MLA its 1, but two is OK. I have never experienced using one. Since forever it has been 2.
Unless you are in the publishing business, or producing copy for someone do what suits you. If you aren't in an industry where documents are going to a client who demands one space then tell your co workers you have work to do and let them complain about it to each other. Things like this don't matter.
2006-09-26 16:28:07 · answer #10 · answered by imjoshdotcom 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's two spaces. Even in college if you don't double space after the period you will get points taken off of your paper.
2006-09-26 16:23:31 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋