Ditch The Double Space
Hints and tips on this website are just that, not laws carved in granite. But here’s one guideline that really ought to be carved in granite, enshrined in an Act and passed by Parliament. NO DOUBLE SPACES AT SENTENCE ENDS.
Always put just one space after the end of a sentence. Years ago, when we used typewriters (they were introduced to stop us plucking quills from geese*), hitting any key advanced the carriage one space. And that space was the same distance, whether you’d typed a narrow letter like an ‘i’ or a wide one like an ‘w’. Depending on whether the next sentence began with a wide or narrow letter, sometimes it was awkward to see where a new sentence began. Computers are more intelligent than typewriters**. They know the width of the letter and so they adjust the space around it automatically. Inserting a digital double space now trips up the reader’s eye. They won’t thank you for it. Don’t believe me? Check below.
Always put just one space after the end of a sentence. Years ago, when we used typewriters (they were introduced to stop us plucking quills from geese*), hitting any key advanced the carriage one space. And that space was the same distance, whether you’d typed a narrow letter like an ‘i’ or a wide one like an ‘w’. Depending on whether the next sentence began with a wide or narrow letter, sometimes it was awkward to see where a new sentence began. Computers are more intelligent than typewriters**. They know the width of the letter and so they adjust the space around it automatically. Inserting a digital double space now trips up the reader’s eye. They won’t thank you for it. Don’t believe me? Check above.
The single, not double, space is a rule that nonprofessional writers resist. Maybe because they think it looks professional. It doesn’t. See what authors, copywriters, journalists and editors do by checking any magazine, newspaper or commercial website. Count the double spaces you find – you won’t need to take your mittens off!
*Or, presumably, sparrows if you were writing the small print in insurance contracts.
**Actually, they’re not, but the people who write text display and word processing applications are. Just.
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