Single Or Double Space After Period
If you are someone who cant break your two spaces after a period habit have no fear.
Single or double space after period. Besides the argument in favor of two spaces isnt any less arbitrary. I read theses and dissertations for a living and was pleased that apa along with the chicago style guide recommended the use of only one space after a period. It creates rivers of white space that are most annoying. Quick tip for those who use two spaces.
Even though monospaced fonts stopped being used in the 1970s and were never common on computers the practice of putting two spaces after a period stuck around. Lets set aside whether one space or two spaces is right ftr i am 100 on team one space and if you say two spaces youre simply wrong. The software giant has started to update microsoft word to highlight two spaces after a period as an error and to offer a correction to one space. Two spaces after a period does not improve readability.
Among their rules was that we should use one space after a period instead of twoso thats how we should do it. Monospaced fonts and proportional fonts. The chicago manual of style the us government printing office style manual and the ap stylebook are just a few of the style guides that recommend one space after a period. Microsoft recently started testing this change with the desktop version of word offering.
Much to my chagrin i see that you have backtracked on that. These days depending on what youre reading you can find either one or two spaces between the end of one sentence and the beginning of another. But i digress since the stakes genuinely. Use one space after a period or other punctuation mark at the end of a sentence when writing in apa style.
One space after period two spaces after period. However if your instructor or non apa publisher has other requirements eg to use two spaces follow their specifications. As typing teachers throughout the 80s and 90s continued to teach that two spaces after a period was proper form the trend lasted on for. Double spacing after periods has become a great generational debate with everyone from gen x on up falling predominantly onto team double space while millennials and gen z fight on the side of the single space.
The point is its not only widely accepted its expected that you use only one space after a period. The story of spaces after periods is often told as though monospaced typewriter fonts needed two spaces after a sentence for good readability and that the wide availability of. The use of single vs. Simply write as you always would with two spaces and when you are finished got to the toolbar of your word.