Double Space Between Sentences

The majority of one spacers on the other hand.

Double space between sentences. The single or double space between sentences argument has been an ongoing one for decades. Truth be known this practice far preceded typewriters as documented in jim felici s excellent treatise on this subject. Double word spaces between sentences is a practice commonly believed to have evolved from the use of typewriters. However typographic opinions are typically anecdotal with no basis in evidence.

There used to be an old typographical convention that it s proper to use two spaces after a sentence. Double word spaces were frequently albeit inconsistently used in handset metal type settings especially to help force justified type. Chances are good you will find no double spaces between sentences. Proponents of double sentence spacing state that the extra space between sentences enhances readability by providing clearer breaks between sentences and making text appear more legible particularly noting the very small visual difference between a dot and a comma.

Anyone in that situation has to change the word setting manually each time. The two space rule came about thanks to the monospaced type used by mid 20th century typewriters. The people who study and design the typewritten word decided long ago that we should use one space not two between sentences. James felici author of.

This was largely due to the limitations of now antiquated technology and was the standard style taught by most schools until around 20 years ago. Reading speed only improved marginally the paper found and only for the 21 two spacers who naturally typed with two spaces between sentences. Because monospaced type i e type in which every character occupies the same amount of space has a uniform appearance the double space between sentences broke up the text and made it easier to read. For most people that s not a problem.

This came about because monospaced type has a uniform appearance and two spaces between sentences broke up the text and made it easier to read. Traditional pre digital typesetting required the use of double spacing after periods and colons. The two spaces after period rule was established during the days of typesetters when additional space was needed to show the difference between the spacing between words which was smaller and the spacing between sentences which was larger. Characters were monospaced back then which means.

There s no way to change the sentence spacing check at the document style or paragraph level.