I was taught "in typing class" to space two times after the period. I am noticing, however, that a lot of publications show only one space. Why is this, and is it preferable? If it is preferable, are two spaces still acceptable?
2007-08-27 08:18:26 · 8 answers · asked by brer 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Other - Education
A lot of publications are using AP style which has recently switched to leaving only one space after a period.
I'm a junior in college and I have never, even in high school, been criticized for leaving only one space.
Although I was taught in typing class to leave two spaces as well, all of my English classes have only asked for one space, so I think it is becoming much more accepted, it's more about personal preference. In a lot of publications, leaving only one space allows for more to be written in an allotted space, so that's one reason it's more preferred.
2007-08-27 08:23:10 · answer #1 · answered by loislanepoet 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Contrary to what you were taught, a single space is all that is required between one sentence and another, unless the next sentence is the beginning of a new paragraph.
BTW the practice of two spaces after the end of a sentence must be a recent addition to typing lessons, not an old practice as some are stating. I'm undoubtedly older than you and I took typing in high school as well. At that time we were taught the one space rule.
2007-08-27 08:23:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ah, you're showing your age!
I am guessing that it is less important now because of proportional fonts. The Courier font (used on typewriters) had a fixed spacing and that sometimes resulted in visual blank space (the word skiing would have a lot of blank space in the middle, for example). To emphasize the separation between sentences, two spaces were needed.
But with proportional fonts, the characters are "kerned", that is, the spacing between the characters is adjusted to achieve a more balanced appearance. A single blank space at the end of a sentence then is all that is necessary.
If you do, in fact, use two spaces, they will be kerned, reducing their apparent length and making them appear more like one space. So I would say that two spaces is still quite acceptable. Just for jollies, I used two spaces before "So" and "Just" in the last two sentences in this paragraph.
2007-08-27 08:30:12 · answer #3 · answered by dogsafire 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I've noticed that, and also only 1 space after colon (":") instead of two. No, it's not correct, but seems to be the current usage. Because English is a living language that changes over time, the single space will probably eventually be the "correct" way.
(And yes, 2 spaces not only acceptable, but correct.)
2007-08-27 08:23:00 · answer #4 · answered by suzanne g 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You were taught on a manual typewriter I would bet. The two spaces between sentence rule has changed. Someone, maybe our lord and savior Bill Gates and the crew at Microsoft, decided that in electronic publications (one using word editing software) one space is all that is necessary.
2007-08-27 08:25:51 · answer #5 · answered by Mad Embalmer From the North 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Interesting question. I have pondered this myself. I would guess it is OK either way. Spacing on the computer isn't quite the same as spacing on the typewriter. I think it looks sharper and cleaner with only one space.
2007-08-27 08:28:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I also thought it was 2 spaces after a period and 1 after a comma.
2007-08-27 08:22:47 · answer #7 · answered by huckypeep2 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Usually 2
2007-08-27 08:22:37 · answer #8 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋