2. Nearly all style guides agree that one space is correct. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) was the only style guide that overtly recommended two spaces after a period, and even that long-time holdout for two spaces changed its guideline to one space in its 2019 update.
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How many spaces can you type?
Hence the adoption of the two-space rule–on a typewriter, an extra space after a sentence makes text easier to read. Here’s the thing, though: Monospaced fonts went out in the 1970s. First electric typewriters and then computers began to offer people ways to create text using proportional fonts.
How many spaces are in a sentence?
Typists in some English-speaking countries initially learned to insert three spaces between sentences to approximate the wider sentence spacing used in traditional printing, but later settled on two spaces, a practice that continued throughout the 20th century.
How many spaces go after a period?
Leave one space after a period or other concluding punctuation mark, unless your instructor prefers two spaces. Whichever spacing you choose, be sure to use it consistently throughout your paper.
How many spaces come after a colon?
Just as with the period, it used to be common to put two spaces after a colon, but now most style guides that address the matter (e.g., The Chicago Manual of Style) recommend using only one space after a colon.
Do you still put 2 spaces after a period?
Unless you are typing on an actual typewriter, you no longer have to put two spaces after a period. Or a question mark. Or an exclamation point. The rule applies to all end punctuation.
How many spaces after a full stop Oxford?
Two spaces
Two spaces after each full stop. Every time. Easy.
How many spaces after a full stop UK?
two spaces
Teaches Storytelling and Writing. While there are many formal rules for punctuation marks and formatting, it’s easy to get tripped up on whether to use one or two spaces after a period. Learn why two spaces were originally used after a period and why the general rule today is to use one space after a period.
How many spaces after a full stop Australia?
One space
Answer: One space. The Australian Commonwealth Style manual: for authors, editors and printers says: ‘In typewritten (as distinct from typeset) material, it was customary to place two spaces after a colon, semicolon, full stop or other sentence-closing punctuation.
Why are there two spaces between sentences?
To help readers more easily spot the ends of sentences, the two-space rule was put into effect—and for many, the habit stuck, even as typewriters gave way to computers that offered more proportionally spaced fonts, writes Ellen Gutoskey for Mental Floss. (Courier fonts are a notorious exception.)
How many spaces are in a tab?
Generally, a tab is the same width as 4 to 5 spaces provided the font being used equally sizes each character. For example, the Courier font’s tab equals 5 spaces, whereas the Arial font is 11 spaces to each tab when the font size for both is set to 12.
Do you put space after Mr?
British usage favours omitting the full stop in abbreviations which include the first and last letters of a single word, such as Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr and St; American usage prefers (A) Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr. and St., with full stops. Most other abbreviated titles, however, require a full stop, as shown above.
Do you put a space before a period?
There should be no space between a sentence and its ending punctuation, whether that’s a period, a question mark, or an exclamation mark. There should also be no space before a colon, semicolon, or comma. The only ending punctuation mark that sometimes needs to be preceded by a space is a dash.
Does a colon have a space before it?
But first please note the following: the colon is never preceded by a white space; it is always followed by a single white space in normal use, and it is never, never, never followed by a hyphen or a dash — in spite of what you might have been taught in school.
Do we need space before colon?
In modern English-language printing, no space is placed before a colon and a single space is placed after it. In French-language typing and printing, the traditional rules are preserved. One or two spaces may be and have been used after a colon.
Do you put a space before a semicolon?
3. Place one space after a comma, a semicolon, and other forms of punctuation falling within a sentence.
Should there be a space after a dash?
The dash (–) is used to set off additional material within a sentence, often in order to emphasize it, to set off appositives that contain commas, or to indicate missing words.When typing, use two hyphens together without spaces to form a dash. Do not put a space before or after the dash.
How many spaces should be left before and after typing a hyphen?
With a computer, use only one space following periods, commas, semicolons, colons, exclamation points, question marks, and quotation marks. The space needed after these punctuation marks is proportioned automatically. Use no spaces on either side of a hyphen.
Should there be a space after three dots?
Spacing. Whether you put spaces between the dots or not is a matter of style. The Chicago Manual of Style calls for spaces between every ellipsis point. The AP Stylebook says to treat the ellipsis as a three-letter word, with spaces on either side of the ellipsis but no spaces between the dots.
Why do lawyers double space?
He explains that the use of two spaces between sentences derives from when everyone was writing on manual typewriters. Due to how typewriters handled proportionate spacing, it was easier to read typewritten documents which placed two periods between sentences.
Is there an Oxford semicolon?
Because the list items contain commas, we want to use semicolons as “second-order commas”, a pretty standard but somewhat rare usage.Now, when the guy who was writing this section of the paper wrote it, he only used one semicolon, separating CFA and CCA.