Typing: One Space or Two Between Sentences?

…That is the question. Which is nobler? Technically, whether a single or a double space is used following the final punctuation in each sentence, it is correct; however, one method is antiquated, unnecessary, and even troublesome at times.

Our story begins long ago in the year 1450 when a German goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg invented the European moveable type printing system. Gutenberg’s printing press worked by arranging individual characters and placing them in a matrix to be printed. Because of the nature of the device, the resulting prints gave the illusion that two spaces were entered between sentences.

The contribution of largely antediluvian technology to concepts of sentence spacing doesn’t end there. Throughout the 19^th centaury and first half of the 20^th, “hot metal” typesettings were widely used in the publication of both books and newspapers. They two types were monotype, which was comprised of individual characters and was popular in book publication, and linotype, which were made into entire lines of text called “slugs,” and thrived in the American newspaper business.

With monotype, the mold for the period was usually as wide as a full character, but it was aligned to the left of the piece. Because periods are followed by a space, the false impression of a double space was an easy conclusion to jump to. With most mechanical typewriters, the effect was the same. In newspapers the illusion was no less prevalent because the full slug stop followed by the capital letter of the next sentence also made the impression that two spaces were entered, when in fact only one space was used.

As computer based word processing began to replace typewriters in both professional use and in academia during late 1970’s and all throughout the 80’s, users of this new technology began entering two spaces between sentences. After all, the little period wasn’t nearly as wide as a capital lettering, and to them, this just didn’t look right.

Even educators, partly due to mistrust of new technology, and partly because of deep seeded familiarity, even instructed students that papers written using computers must have two spaces between sentences, usually citing “legibility” as the rationale.

Contrary to popular beliefs, there are no rules in English, not now and not in the past, which specify that two spaces are required between sentences. Both the official handbooks for MLA Style and AP Style show single spaces.

The inclusion of double spaces for sentences has become so common, that by default Microsoft Word recognized either a solitary or a double space following the concluding punctuation as being correct grammar unless otherwise specified. Because of this, most writers who use double spacing are unaware that they do so inconsistently.

MLA even makes a special note about the controversy on their website:

Publications in the United States today usually have the same spacing after a punctuation mark as between words on the same line. …Most publishers’ guidelines for preparing a manuscript on disk ask authors to type only the spaces that are to appear in print.”

A single space between sentences does have its advantages, especially in publishing, where double spaced sentences have been virtually eliminated. Single spacing is a space saver; further, a single space does not interfere with text wrapping, as extra spaces often do. And, of course, it saves space and keystrokes.

However, “As a practical matter,” the MLA writes, “There is nothing wrong with using two spaces after concluding punctuation marks.” Indeed, it is a personal choice, but the practice is beginning to show the ages of its origins.

Reference:

• www.mla.org