Double-Space after a Sentence

[cwsstins]

If you're like me, when you first learned to type, you were told to always place two spaces after the end of a sentence, i.e. "See Dick run. See Jane run."

This rule was established in the days of non-proportional typesetting, such as you might see on a typewriter. So the space taken up on the page by the character "i" was the same amount of space taken up by the character "M." With each character, including a "space," taking up the same amount of space, it was considered to be difficult for the human eye to easily pick up the beginning of a new sentence when there was only one space. Hence, the double-space.

However, modern word processors and word-processing software include proportional typesetting, meaning that "i" is a lot thinner than "M." So, it is argued that the double-space is no longer necessary because the human eye is able to catch those single spaces,indicating a new sentence, a lot easier.

This is a huge debate in a lot of academic circles and impassioned editors are often vehement in their denouncement of double-spaces (notice the typesetting in newspapers or magazines. But there are a lot of people who are so used to using the double-space that they simply will not make the effort to start using a single (despite the reduction in overall keystrokes).

What do you think?

 

[sleipnir214]

Has anyone's opinion changed since he/she posted in thread1256-891235 ?


Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[Stella740pl]

That's the one I was looking for. I remembered a good post by SQLSister in that thread, but didn't seem to find it.

But there are a lot of people who are so used to using the double-space that they simply will not make the effort to start using a single (despite the reduction in overall keystrokes).

I would say, that's not that critical, let them put double-space if that's what they are used to. Just teach the new generation to use single space with proportional fonts, and double with non-proportional. It's not an extra keystroke that slows down the typing; it's having to think about every single one of them.

 

[Tranman]

Double spaces were good enough for Mr. Frances in 7th hour typing class, so they're good enough for me...

Seriously though, there are a couple of fonts out there where the space character is miniscule, and if I happen to be using one of them, it's hard to tell where the sentences end.

Because of that, and the fact that I'm older than dirt, and learned to type on an old Underwood manual, I still usually use two spaces, (except for when I can write something with only one-sentence paragraphs).

(Get it?)

Tranman

 

[chipperMDW]

I'd like to point out that many old Unix tools were designed to work on the convention that single spaces delimit words, and a period followed by two spaces (or a period followed by a newline) indicates the end of a sentence. A period followed by a single space is usually part of an abbreviation (and no abbreviation can be followed by a newline).


Many of these tools are still in use.

Descendants of Troff, a typesetting program, are still used to format online manual pages; they expect their source files to be formatted in this convention to ensure proper display.

The popular Emacs editor includes commands to operate on units of text like "words" and "sentences," and uses this convention to implement these commands. It also uses the convention to format text, splitting it into lines.


I'm someone who's switched conventions a couple times. I learned the double space convention somewhere in a computer class in grade school, and I followed it.

In high school, I then read a book that said that modern fonts obsoleted that convention, so I went to single spaces.

Recently, a few years after I had been using and advocating single spaces, I learned Emacs, and found that using the double space rule was beneficial in that environment; I've now switched back to double spaces.

I still use single spaces when doing certain things, but I mostly use double. I'm waiting to see what makes me switch again...

 

[tsdragon]

I think was WordPerfect 5.0 that took double-spaces after a period and automatically converted it to some other spacing, represented by a single space (preceeded by a period. It was smart enough to only do this at the appropriate times as I recall. As a result, I got out of the habit of using double-spaces after a "full stop".


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[earthandfire]

I was taught that double spacing should be used after not only a full stop, but any full stop indicating the end of a sentence. This would include the exclamation mark and the question mark, but not the colon since this does not mark the end of a sentence.

 

[SantaMufasa]

The crux of this issue insofar as word processors are concerned is that the software is smart enough to intuit the difference between a "full stop" and a decimal point/period that are used in a "non-full-stop" context. Once the software makes its "best guess", if it considers the point to be a full stop, it uses an "Em-space" instead of an "En-space". An "En-space" is 66% the width of an "Em-space".

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[tsdragon]

That's what I meant by "some other spacing", but I wasn't sure enough about it being an em-space to call it that. Thanks for the confirmation.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[jakeyg]

I got taught it was 3 spaces after a full stop, 2 after colons/semi colons. Definate spacing between sentences adds clarity.

Always done it that way and I like it so there

The punctiation rebel

 

[elanor]

I used the two space convention (learned in Mr. Cairns' ninth grade typing class) until I came to my current job, where a single space after a full stop is the standard. Now, I eliminate the second space from other writers' work with savage glee, proving that there is no one more passionate than the recent convert.
Thanks!
Elanor

 

[jakeyg]

I go through adding spaces, proving that there's no-one more aggravating than a curmudgeony old victor meldrew

 

[Volk359]

I too was learned to use two spaces after a period back in dinosaur days before computers and it's such an ingrained habit I keep doing it. Even when posting or coding (does cause problems sometimes, tho).

Personally I think it makes a passage easier to read as your mind sees the space out of the peripheral vision and knows the end of a sentence is coming up.

 

[SilentAiche]

All:

Two spaces between sentences is SO much easier to read. Can we agree on that? Why, I'll keep double-spacing after sentences until they pry this space bar from my cold, dead fingers (ooh, uh, sorry, mixed up this post with the "gun" post).

Tim

(smilies, and all that .....)



[blue]_____________________________________________________
If you need immediate assistance, please raise your hand.
If you are outside of Raleigh, raise your hand and say[/blue] [red]Ooh! Ooh![/red]

 

[GlenJohnson]

The way I look at it, when the schools start changing the way it's taught, it will always be 2 spaces after a dead stop.12That being said, what will end up happening is the typewriter will go the way of the dinosaur, and the software will take over.12We, then, will become the new dinosaur.


Glen A. Johnson
To get the best answers to your questions, check out faq950-5848
If you're from the Chicagoland area, check out Tek-Tips in Chicago IL

 

[elanor]

I think that together, jakeyg and I prove that Nature seeks equilibrium!
Thanks!
Elanor

 

[kalistoh]

I've tried my hardest this past week to contstuct my sentences with only one space between them. Unfortunately I failed miserably.

Old habits die hard.

she who destroys the light

 

[stormbind]

With some fonts, two spaces between sentences can be harder to read: I find that two spaces can cause my reading to pause unnecessarilly.

I learned to type with ICQ

----------
Memoria mihi benigna erit qui eam perscribam