Do you type 1 space or 2 spaces after the ending punctuation mark?

[Josie]

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I'm 38 and was taught keyboarding on a computer in the late 90s. We learned two spaces after the end of a sentence. Have I been wrong for 20 years?

 

[Amelia]

I usually do two. Then if I'm posting something where I have a character limit and I need to get some characters back, I go around deleting the second space.

 

[<alt>doxygen]

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I'm 38 and was taught keyboarding on a computer in the late 90s. We learned two spaces after the end of a sentence. Have I been wrong for 20 years?

That changed at some point after you were taught.

I took technical writing as a part of my college curriculum and it was 2 spaces - early/mid 80's. One of the guys I was doing a proposal with in 2011 told me I was wrong. I challanged him, but it seems he was correct. The convention changed.

 

[Amelia]

For awhile I was frustrated that two spaces wouldn't show up at the end of my sentence in most computer settings. But I've gotten used to it.

 

[DaveFagan]

I use one space for a comma. Two spaces for a period. I've been wrong for 60 years.
/

 

[Felis Leo]

I use one space for a comma. Two spaces for a period. I've been wrong for 60 years.
/

Same here. Like a CIVILIZED human being.

 

[Redress]

I learned on a typewriter. I use 2 spaces.

 

[ttwtt78640]

I'm 64 and freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. I type two spaces after a period.

 

[ecofarm]

48. As a kid I got a whiff of it and then a brutal smackdown (a C) for extending paper length.

 

[Anagram]

I had never even heard of using 2 spaces until recently. My new boss prefers 2 spaces, but 1 is so ingrained it's hard to do.

 

[Lutherf]

Someone on FB posted this image:



I'm 38 and was taught keyboarding on a computer in the late 90s. We learned two spaces after the end of a sentence. Have I been wrong for 20 years?

You've been wrong. Face it, the last 20 years have been an utter failure because of all that wasted space you created.

 

[Josie]

You've been wrong. Face it, the last 20 years have been an utter failure because of all that wasted space you created.

 

[Jredbaron96]

Whostillusesspaces?

 

[RAMOSS]

S p a c e s a r e G o o d . I d o n ' t k n o w w h a t I w o u l d d o w i t h o u t s p a c e s .

 

[MovingPictures]

One space is all you need on computer related typing, while when printing hand notes, it might be better to use two spaces to make the text more readable.

 

[Xelor]

Do you type 1 space or 2 spaces after the ending punctuation mark?

I type two spaces after terminal punctuation marks I use as such.

• Periods:
  • One space or no space (as appropriate given the grammar of the sentence/phrase) --> Periods used to indicate abbreviations. For example: Mr., Mrs., and other abbreviations that require periods. (You'll notice I put no space between the period following the "r" and "s" and the serial/Oxford commas.)
• Periods and question marks:
  • No space --> I use the American style of punctuation, so I place terminal punctuation inside quotation marks. I follow "terminal" quotation marks with two spaces.
  • Two spaces --> I type two spaces after periods and question marks that end sentences, provided the next sentence is in the same paragraph/line.
  • N/A --> Terminal punctuation followed by a line break.
• Colons: Colons can be quasi-terminal when they are followed by a line break.
  • Following space quantity is N/A --> Colons followed by a line break.
  • Two spaces --> Colons followed by text on the same line.

 

[Xelor]

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I'm 38 and was taught keyboarding on a computer in the late 90s. We learned two spaces after the end of a sentence. Have I been wrong for 20 years?

Red:
No. Moreover, I'm not sure it's a "right or wrong" thing.

The two-space convention makes reading easier and it makes scanning faster because one's eye can fairly readily distinguish the extra space. That extra space is helpful to speed readers; others may not care.

FWIW, it seems that this website will display one space after terminal periods even if one types two.

 

[Taylor]

I really don't think it matters.

 

[poweRob]

Someone on FB posted this image:

View attachment 67246200

I'm 38 and was taught keyboarding on a computer in the late 90s. We learned two spaces after the end of a sentence. Have I been wrong for 20 years?

Was taught typing on a typewriter using old form with the 2 spaces after periods and such. I kind of gave that up on the interwebz.

 

[poweRob]

S p a c e s a r e G o o d . I d o n ' t k n o w w h a t I w o u l d d o w i t h o u t s p a c e s .

t l d r;

 

[Your Star]

Like, why? I've never heard of this.

 

[poweRob]

Like, why? I've never heard of this.

It was standard formatting protocol for typing when typing involved typewriters and not computers.

 

[Your Star]

It was standard formatting protocol for typing when typing involved typewriters and not computers.

But why? Did the typewriters put the words too close together?

 

[poweRob]

But why? Did the typewriters put the words too close together?

I'm not sure. I think it was to define a difference between spaces that were merely between words and spaces that kicked off a new sentence? Dunno.

 

[Your Star]

I'm not sure. I think it was to define a difference between spaces that were merely between words and spaces that kicked off a new sentence? Dunno.

That's what punctuation is for? :lol:

The mystery remains, lol.