Digital-age word processors and content management systems use variable-width fonts (what you’re reading now), so periods hug tight to a sentence’s end, and one space leaves plenty of breathing room before the next begins.īut the debate existed long before word processors came along, journalist and editor James Felici detailed in an essay. The logic goes: An extra space after a period helped distinguish one sentence from another in a typewriter’s fixed-width typeface (similar to the font Courier New). Most modern lore cites typewriters as a practical explanation for the double-space habit. Some legal writers still insist on two spaces, as well, but the American Bar Association recommends a single space. Of the major guides, APA Style - which guides some academic writing - was the lone hold out in the two-spaces camp until 2018, when its seventh edition finally recommended one space. Writers and editors tend to have serious feelings about grammar, style and usage - like whether the Oxford comma is necessary - but any editor worth her salt will admit no single rule about how we write is universally correct or incorrect.
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But no Grammar Goddess has ever carved this or any rule into stone. It’s one of hundreds of miniscule style choices publishers, writers, editors and style guides make about their content. Most style guides, which lay out the norms for how industries including book publishers, newspapers and academics write, have made the switch to favor a single space between sentences. Two spaces after a period is not incorrect - nor is it correct. Is a double space after a period actually incorrect?
#How to double space in microsoft word for mac update#
The update is included with the premium version of the company’s new Editor, a browser extension and new Word feature that makes spelling, grammar and style suggestions akin to tools like Grammarly and ProWritingAid.
Word will now flag two spaces after a period with that dreaded Spellcheck-style squiggly line and suggest a single space to replace it, The Verge reports. Its verdict? Two spaces after a period is out. Maybe this will snuff the flames on this decades-old dumpster fire: Microsoft Word, that powerhouse in word processing, has finally weighed in on the great space debate. I know you’re duty-bound as a wordsmith to engage in a raging debate about sentence spacing now that I’ve brought it up. Sorry for derailing your day and that of the poor non-writers in your household. So…how many spaces after a period is correct?ĭo you use one or two spaces after a period? So, let’s assist others who are also searching for this kind of query.4. Thus, I assume that it would easy to input double space in OpenOffice text doc after exploring the article. How Do I Double Space in Microsoft Office?įollow my below steps to double space in MS Word. Find ‘Line Spacing’ and select ‘Double’.You can follow the below steps 1 by 1 to input double space in Word Online.
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But in Microsoft Word, you will be allowed to apply the shortcut of the double-spacing by pressing ‘Ctrl+2’. There is no shortcut for double spacing in OpenOffice. To get the accessibility of the ‘Paragraph’ window, tap the ‘Format’ and select it. You can change the spacing in OpenOffice from the ‘Indents & Spacing’ section of the ‘Paragraph’ window. Frequently Asked Questions How Do I Change Spacing in Open Office?