So apparently Microsoft Word’s latest release shows a grammar error if you do two spaces after a period, this ending the debate of which is correct.
I used to do two spaces after a period back on my old Apple IIGS with its mono spaces font. However, I’ve always said that since the world of kerning has existed in word processor apps, just add a single space and the software will give it the proper amount of spacing after a period before the next sentence begins.
I had always removed the space after the full-stop. But the tools like Grammarly and Microsoft Word have changed my habit to add a single space after every grammatical symbol.
The removal of space from everywhere comes from the fact that I used to use SMS a lot and it has a limitation of characters to be added to one sms message :)
This isn't so cut and dry. If you are submitting papers you may be required to do so in the APA style.
https://gocolumbia.libguides.com/c.php?g=338877&p=2282177 notes where in Word to change the one or more spaces setting to make your document APA compliant.
But what about kerning, people?!
Isn't it the job of the software to correctly space sentences apart from each other, and not for the end-user??
Or perhaps I just live way too much in the web dev world where there's a firm separation between content and layout.
Outside of APA and legal papers, I don't see any issue. For those that want to push back against APA and legal standards they are free to do so. But that means they are willing to take some flack with a lower grade or a rejected paper.
I've always used a single space after a sentence. What do you think of the Oxford comma?
I'm pro-Oxford comma.
What has the Oxford comma to do with the issue of one or two spaces? However, although I'm fairly ambivalent aboutb the Oxforfd comma, I am definitely in favour of two spaces after a period; it looks better and makes a document more legibible.
I find that proofreading/spell-checking does a lot more toward making a document readable than adding a redundant space.
And I thought the one space proponents were from the days when every byte counted. That was when a floppy came with a capacity of something like 700,000 bytes (they were about 7-1/2 inch diam. then, and they really were floppy.)
Live and learn.
I think, but I do stand corrected, that two space proponents were from the days of typewriters and printers that only used monospaced fonts. You wanted to make it easier to read when a new sentence started, and since the spacing between each and every character, including punctuation characters, was always exactly the same, you wanted to give more of an obvious spacing to an end of a sentence than you gave to just between words. Therefore, we gave double the space of a blank character to the end of a sentence, and a single blank character between letters.
But then entered the world of word processors and kerning! (Could I possibly mention kerning more times in a single forum topic?!) Kerning made it work automagically to figure out the aesthetically best amount of space to design between each and every letter, word, punctuation, character, etc. depending upon the font being used. It was no longer required for the end-user to "fake" displaying an extra blank character between sentences by hitting the spacebar twice in a row when typing.
I noticed the highlight between sentences in Word recently and I like it. I learned typing long enough ago that it was a BIG DEAL when the first IBM Selectric typewriters were introduced in typing class. The IBM rep typed flawlessly at 120 WPM. Wth the old, "flying golf club" Remington I was using, I could never get above 40. Now I can rely on Word to show me that I did not leave out the extra space between sentences, and I know the end of the sentence will be obvious no matter what font the document is actually printed out in! For instance, I still own a line printer for forms that does not kern at all, and leaving out the extra space can lessen clarity. Thanks, Microsoft, for helping me make sure my typing is done "right".
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