One or Two Spaces After a Period?
The Two-Space Rule is Dead
We've all heard it many times: "You always put two spaces after a period."
That's no longer true, and it hasn't been for a very long time.
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Well, it has been some time since I've written a Coffee Talk on grammar or punctuation, and today I got an email from a former student who sent me a link to a blog where the issue of “How Many Spaces After a Period?” was being discussed.
So, realizing that this is a touchy (feely) issue for some writers, and some of my students still argue with me about this, I decided to write a Coffee Talk on this tremendously important issue (note the hyperbole).
I was more than a bit stunned recently when I took a writing class (yes, I still take classes) and found the writing instructor, Dr. Fossil, telling us students that we were to put two spaces after terminal punctuation!
The Great-48
However, given the fact that Dr. Fossil was a centenarian, and he did not own a computer, and he kept repeating, “This is how we do it in the Great 48 States of the Union,” I began to surmise the problem.
Sometime after Alaska and Hawaii gained statehood in 1959, someone invented a computer . . . then, later, Al Gore invented the Internet, but I digress.
TheWay Computers Do It
My point is that computers (recent ones, you know, those since the 1980's--well that's recent for Dr. Fossil) did away with the need for two spaces after terminal punctuation. And, in fact, it just looks odd these days to see that big gaping space. In fact, it is interesting to note that I cannot force two spaces after a period in this Coffee Talk, which is being "typed" in Dreamweaver. It simply will not allow me to do so. After the period, I can hit my spacebar 2 times (or even 20 times!) but only one space will show up. Why? Because, that's the way it is supposed to be these days.
Where We Learned the Two-Space Rule
All of us old fogies who took “typing class” in high school (I took it in 1970) learned that you always put two spaces after a period. We were to do that after all terminal punctuation, e.g., colons, question marks, and exclamation points (even after semi-colons as I recall).
But, times and technology have changed, and the two-space rule is dead.
Nowadays, you are to use just one space (unless you are still using a typewriter). If you are using a computer with a word processor (is that right? Or is that an old term too?), then you are to use only one space after all terminal punctuation.
You see back in the olden-golden days, typewriters used letters that were all the same width. So, to help readers “see” that a new sentence was starting, it was necessary to insert two spaces after the terminal punctuation. But, in these here glorious days of computers, the word applications compensate for the spacing.
The Experts
Now, as I said, I still have people argue with me about this spacing issue (the nerve!), so, I'll close by directing your attention to the The Chicago Manual of Style Online (the final word in all things writing), where you will see that it supports the “one-spacing” rule: One Space or Two?
Reader Responses:
Thanks for posting this one. I still find myself using two spaces after each sentence -- a habit from typing class as well. Or maybe it just "feels" better to me. Although I have heard from some grammarians that it all comes down to consistency, I was looking for someone to bring some closure to this one. From now on I will be putting two spaces and a delete after every period!—Brian Auten
Ric Responds: two spaces and a delete after every period? Now, that's dedication!
I did not know that.—Randy Weiss
Ric Responds: Well, now you do.
Thanks for the new Coffee Talk; I am ending my first semester as an adjunct professor, and I have been saying "two spaces!" Tonight, I will share my new-found knowledge.—WBN
Ric Responds: Glad to help.
So I'm an anachronism, huh? Next I suppose you'll be telling us the the split-infinitive rule is out, too, just because we retained it from when we spoke Latin? Or maybe next to go would be the nominative after ontological verbs? You do know this is how liberalism starts, right?—Greg Harden
Ric Responds: LOL
Two spaces of course!!!
I read your blog but I still do not feel compelled to change that which I learned long ago and for good reason. To make the switch now would require re-programming my brain and at this late stage of the game it does not make sense. Besides, I like look of 2 spaces. (now, can I use the number 2 or should I type "Two"?) How about Paragraph markers, the computer will label them if I desire. Should I just ignore the spaces and go back to an indented tab? Or should I insert a marker? For that matter, since a computer can do most anything could I just use the "expanded" text option and go back to 2 (or is that two) spaces after a period? What about spell check? Since the computer will do all my spell checking for me, should I waste time learning how to spell? Ah, so many important questions to ponder......I (or should that be i) need to get back to work. Thanks Ric, but I'm staying with the format I've learned and aint a gonna change nohow! (but it was interesting to read your column!)—Jay
(this note was composed utilizing the "Two Space" rule, no spaces were harmed)
Ric Responds: I don't even know where to begin.
As a graphic designer, I have to deal with other people's type all of the time. I don't particularly enjoy getting copy from many "older" writers because of the two spaces thing. What it means for me is that I have to spend the extra time to get rid of those extra spaces. In short, the extra spaces cause technical as well as aesthetic problems for designers. I, too, was taught two spaces after a period in high school typing class. I immediately stopped after a university professor, who had a passion for type, explained in detail that the two spaces rule was basically nothing more than an artifact of an outdated technology (the typewriter). I speak for all of the graphic designers of the world who say "thank you" for writing Coffee Talk #149!—Cale
Ric Responds: Logic and reason prevail. You are most welcome Cale.
Hello. I enjoyed reading your article on "One or Two Spaces After a Period?" If you take a look at chapter 14 in A Manual for Writers by Kate L. Turabian (sixth edition), you we observe that all the examples appear to show two spaces after each punctuation mark. Please check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.—Greg Hammer
Ric Responds: Just checked out the text you referenced, and I didn't see what you saw. However, in the 7th ed of Turabian, p. 296 (21.1), it states that when a period ends a sentence "the period is a terminal period and should be followed by a single space."
