How Many Spaces at the End of a Sentence?

[Bertha Venation]

Lots of stuff from Google on this. My favorite title for a link is "Nothing Says Over 40 Like Two Spaces after a Period."

http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/two-spaces-after-period/

Here's what Wikipedia says:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_spacing_in_language_and_style_guides

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[Novara]

1. "Nothing Says Over 40 Like Two Spaces after a Period."

Ouch, man. I resemble that remark.

Can't seem to break myself of the habit, though.

[Lochloosa]

2. It's 2....always has been, always will be...the right thumb says so.

[kentauros]

5. I'm over fifty.

And it's always been one

[ashling]

12. I'm over sixty

I was taught to use 2.

Nothing makes you appreciate the two spaces to set off the end of a sentence like grading essay after essay written by students who don't even appreciate setting off a seperate paragraph (structurally OR stylistically)

... and don't even get me started on "kids" (how's that for ageism)
who use texting abbreviations i an academic paper

ROFLACGU ... for those youngsters who are texting challenged, that is:

Rolling On the Floor Laughing And Can't Get Up

[kentauros]

13. Well, I do appreciate the rules for proper punctuation and capitalization.

And I will refuse to read any online diatribe that uses neither. If it was important enough to type it out, then it was important enough to break it into capitalized sentences and paragraphs. Thankfully, I'm not a teacher, or it would be an automatic fail

Go look at some message boards for writers and how they will lay into those brave enough to ask if they can publish their story in txt-spk

(For me, my quote "It's always been one" relates to never having learned the rule of two-spaces. Not because it wasn't taught, only because it never stuck in my head. And I'm glad it didn't due to how much typing I've done on computers over the decades...)

[ashling]

10. Nothing says ageist like the author of that article

[Aerows]

27. Yep

I learned that in typing class. It's two spaces after a period, even if kernel spaces aid a smaller space to a space.

You will probably never get me off of that habit.

[marym625]

3. MLA, the Bible of writing,

Says:

Home > What Is MLA Style? > FAQ about the MLA Style Manual > How many spaces should I leave after a period or other concluding mark of punctuation?

How many spaces should I leave after a period or other concluding mark of punctuation?Publications in the United States today usually have the same spacing after a punctuation mark as between words on the same line. Since word processors make available the same fonts used by typesetters for printed works, many writers, influenced by the look of typeset publications, now leave only one space after a concluding punctuation mark. In addition, most publishers' guidelines for preparing electronic manuscripts ask authors to type only the spaces that are to appear in print.

Because it is increasingly common for papers and manuscripts to be prepared with a single space after all punctuation marks, this spacing is shown in the examples in the MLA Handbook and the MLA Style Manual. As a practical matter, however, there is nothing wrong with using two spaces after concluding punctuation marks unless an instructor or editor requests that you do otherwise.

http://www.mla.org/style/style_faq/mlastyle_spaces

I'm over 40 and I will always use two. Period.

[hlthe2b]

4. Two spaces says the person learned to touch type on a typewriter.

It has taken me quite a while to stop doing so... With some computer fonts, I still think it makes it easier to read with two spaces. Still, I now only include one (or at least I try to).

[dr.strangelove]

6. Two are not needed anymore

I know I am ancient, but back when I learned on my typewriter, two were needed because of the size of the typeset for a period and a space. It simply was not enough to look clean before starting the next sentence. Now, with computers setting perfect typesets for all figures, its just not needed. I still catch myself while typing a lot, in the stream of thought, but I try not to do it anymore.

"Nothing Says Over 40 Like Two Spaces after a Period." OUCH!!! That hurts.

[kentauros]

7. While I did "learn" typing on an ancient manual typewriter,

the two spaces rule was just one of many rules I promptly forgot after completing the mandatory class. I don't recall ever using two spaces after a sentence whenever I needed to type up a paper, and no one ever corrected me on that, either.

Eventually, we got a C-64, and I never had to worry about typing-rules other than where to place my fingers on the keyboard

[Renew Deal]

8. 2, but it's not necessarily an age thing

Plenty of responses to that post were from younger people using 2. I think it looks better, but I also rarely can tell how many spaces are used.

[Sweet Freedom]

9. One space after periods, one tab to offset text, one return at the end of a sentence.

As a graphic designer, the first thing I do when I receive copy is eliminate formatting that is double anything. In fact, professional layout software like InDesign comes with pre-programmed GREP expressions that eliminate double spaces and multiple returns. Two spaces after periods create unnecessary and unattractive "rivers" of white space. I can make a paragraph of text much more readable and inviting without the extra spaces.

[Ino]

21. ^^^ THIS ^^^

typesetter/graphic designer since 1975

Thank goddess there's more than one of us who does it the right way

[CBGLuthier]

11. I am over 50 and have always used one.

[UTUSN]

14. 2. The difference between a distance between sentences & a distance between words. n/t

[Arkansas Granny]

15. Way over 40. Two spaces after a period and one after a comma was drilled into us

by our Typing 1 teacher to the extent that, to this day, I just know I'll lose a full letter grade if I do it otherwise.

RIP, Mrs. Walker.

[pipi_k]

16. Three years

of business oriented high school and another year of a business school...still doing the double spacing thing.

I'm 62

[LeftInTX]

17. I'm over 40 and I learned 2 on the typewriter

A few years ago, I edited a newsletter. Now its 1.

[kcass1954]

33. Same here. I used to do a newsletter for a social group.

One person wrote an article every month, and always complained because she submitted it to me with 2 spaces after every period. I reminded her that it was my job to edit the newsletter, and took out her extra spaces for consistency, and it she wanted 2 spaces, I'd be happy to let her do the newsletter. This was an almost monthly discussion for nearly 7 years.

I'm 60, and learned 2 on a manual typewriter. One is much easier.

[RebelOne]

18. I am 76 and when I took typing in high school,

I was taught to use 2 spaces at the end of a sentence. Then years later when I went into typesetting and then copy editing, one space was the norm.

[Blue_Tires]

19. I was always taught to do two spaces all the way through grad school

Then I became a newspaper reporter, and the copy editors pretty much had to put a gun to my head and cock the hammer until I finally learned to just do ONE space...and because of that habit, I just do one space (or just cop out and do ellipses)

[WinkyDink]

20. Two, FGS. Why is this even a question? (What ninny prefers"Two, FGS.Why is this even a question?")

[Avalux]

22. Aesthetically speaking, it looks better with two.

Just sayin'.

[LiberalElite]

23. I was taught it was two and

no one ever told me otherwise. And what's wrong with "over 40"?

[Skittles]

24. TWO

I don't give a f*** what the "new rules" are - it will forever ONE after a comma, TWO after a period for me. IT LOOKS BETTER!!!

[Aerows]

28. One after a comma

Two after a period.

I learned that in typing class, and I had a hard ass nun that actually threw a typewriter at one of the students because she was being obnoxious/not taking it seriously.

You can BET I use two spaces after a period.

You don't do that shit when you are in an all-girl's Catholic school.

[cwydro]

25. It was always two - taught from WAY back in the day.

Now there's been discussion because of computer typing - that only one is needed.

I had to write reports for a living; it was known that leaving the two spaces was more professional, but they allowed the one space.

Most of the younger report writers used only the one, but many had also learned the two space rule.

[Throd]

26. One space is for the mouth breathing knuckle-draggers that can't count to two.

[oldandhappy]

29. The energy expended on this 'discussion' amazes me!

IntheThailanguagetheydonotusespaces.

[hunter]

30. I was taught two spaces in seventh grade, on a manual typewriter.

I got over it.

My mom was probably one of the top 10 typists in the world in her day, She could type as fast as most people speak, rarely hitting the pause pedal on the tape player. (She usually used shorthand for transcripts of live network broadcasts...) She only hits the space bar once now, or else her software deletes the extra space.

I've never been able to type words faster than I think, but I was once able to accurately enter raw numerical data -- decimal, octal, and hexadecimal, then hit "Enter" -- while daydreaming.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numeric_keypad

[davidpdx]

31. 2 spaces per APA 6th Ed.

[Eyerish]

32. Im under 40 and its always been 2 spaces for me

Thankfully this author realized how snarky & ageist her original post sounded and issued what seems to be a heartfelt apology.
"The Price of Snark: What I Learned About Teaching from a Viral Post"
http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/price-of-snark/

[elleng]

34. One on computer/phone,

2 on TYPEWRITER!!!

[Optical.Catalyst]

35. Two spaces

When a person is sitting in a cube farm typing out 'important' stuff, hitting the space bar twice sends a message to the lazy people surfing the net that at least one person is working. Doing it for several minutes straight shows the star worker is on a roll.

type type type
BANG BANG
type type type type type type
BANG BANG

(never mind the person is sending out a DISCUS comment responding to some teabagger on a blog site.)

[grasswire]

36. one

...and yes, I was taught two in touch typing class. I got over it.