Weird question about spaces....that is the spaces between sentences

[psjlg2]

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Hey everyone, I'm writing my PS and was wondering if anyone had the same question as me. I have always, since my keyboarding class in 8th grade, put two spaces between sentences. When counting characters, this can add up to like...one whole sentence or even a few sentences when writing your PS and counting characters, which when it comes down to the nitty-gritty can mean a lot! Do we need to put two spaces between sentences of is this just an arbitrary exercise in improper formatting that I was taught back in the dark-ages and have been doing ever since.

So, one space or two between sentences?

 

[OnceBitten]

I didn't put two spaces in between each sentence and never would have thought about it beforehand without seeing a mention of this. It didn't seem to hurt me, though. 😉 Save the space for actual content and good luck!

 

[nyanko]

I don't think people do that anymore, actually. I remember being taught the same, but I think that it's one of those things they tell you to do in elementary school to waste time and fill the curriculum, like when they tell you that cursive is important and all the adults use it and you'll use it forever. The only time I've used cursive since is on the stupid GRE oath or whatever.

(actually I think it's a carryover from typewriters - typewritten sentences weren't distinguishable because the period was so small and the font made it difficult)

 

[psjlg2]

Good to know. Although I've been doing it for so many years I'm not sure I can make myself stop. Well I can waste time going back through my PS and deleting the spaces between every sentence that I've done (HAHA), that way I don't have to spend my time dreaming up a clever conclusion.
Thanks!

 

[aspiringDVM]

Good to know. Although I've been doing it for so many years I'm not sure I can make myself stop. Well I can waste time going back through my PS and deleting the spaces between every sentence that I've done (HAHA), that way I don't have to spend my time dreaming up a clever conclusion.
Thanks!

One way to do it if you're using Word is to "find" "period space" and "replace" "period space space."

 

[Angelo84]

I was also trained to put two spaces after a sentance. When I posted my PS to VMCAS it claimed I was over the 5000 characters--word said 4993 or somesuch and I went through and deleted the spaces, it was easier than trying to pull out whole words or sentances. I still put two spaces between sentances....

 

[Backwoods Boy]

I don't think people do that anymore, actually. I remember being taught the same, but I think that it's one of those things they tell you to do in elementary school to waste time and fill the curriculum, like when they tell you that cursive is important and all the adults use it and you'll use it forever. The only time I've used cursive since is on the stupid GRE oath or whatever.

(actually I think it's a carryover from typewriters - typewritten sentences weren't distinguishable because the period was so small and the font made it difficult)

I go back an forth myself. One line I print and the next for some reason I go into cursive. Hell, sometimes I'll transition from print to cursive midword. I had an English teacher in high school that did not appreciate that much. Darn my Brain-Hand coordination.

Back to the OP, I guess I must have missed the boat on this one. I have never been taught to double space between sentences.

 

[twelvetigers]

Did that old space-space thing have something to do with typewritten stuff? Like, the spaces were sort of small otherwise, so you made two? I see no purpose for it on today's computers, at any rate. Don't waste your characters! 🙂

Shet, I just realized I repeated just what Nyan said. Ugh.

You have to write the GRE oath in cursive??

 

[TrocarKarin]

The only time I've used cursive since is on the stupid GRE oath or whatever.

This was honestly one of the hardest parts of the GRE for me. I'm sure it was pretty illegible, but they're the ones that wanted me to write in a style I haven't used in 15 years.

 

[jpeterman13]

You have to write the GRE oath in cursive??

yea you do. I did it today and I think the girls at the test center were laughing at me because to took me so long. And of course, my words were huge and I ran out of space...so I continued onto the back.

 

[gone2dogs]

Brilliant idea! I am also one of those two space trained people, and suspect that I will never change either. But I have been trying to reduce my PS by 676 characters and now I only have to reduce by 643😀. Thanks for the suggestion!

And yes, I am mostly kidding... I realize that I need to do some major editing here. Pulling out a word here or there isn't going to do it. I need to cut out stuff that at one time anyway I thought was really important.

Oh, and last summer was the first time I had ever heard of the single space after a period deal... I was taking biochem and was doing a group project where we were all writing different portions of a paper and then editing them together. It was pretty funny... I was sitting there watching the kid doing the editing painstakingly removing all my extra spaces but not saying a word. So of course I had to ask what the heck he was up to! He seemed to think that one space was standard and had no idea where I got my crazy two space methods. I was already the weird older student that was stuck in his group, and now I had these nutty space ideas! I was still totally doubting him, but decided to not press the issue. Good thing, since I guess he was right😳.

 

[almostglue]

I, too, am a two spacer after a period. And that will never change - it's so ingrained now I can't help it. But, if I'm writing within a certain character limit and run out of space, I will go back and delete one space. That's the only time, though!

 

[Medic_9]

I think "back when" it was standard to put two spaces following a period. Now they are teaching only 1 space.

I also learned the two space method and remember having red ink on papers reprimanding me on only putting one. It's pretty darn hard to switch now.

 

[almostglue]

Oh, and last summer was the first time I had ever heard of the single space after a period deal... I was taking biochem and was doing a group project where we were all writing different portions of a paper and then editing them together. It was pretty funny... I was sitting there watching the kid doing the editing painstakingly removing all my extra spaces but not saying a word. So of course I had to ask what the heck he was up to! He seemed to think that one space was standard and had no idea where I got my crazy two space methods. I was already the weird older student that was stuck in his group, and now I had these nutty space ideas! I was still totally doubting him, but decided to not press the issue. Good thing, since I guess he was right😳.

HAHA! If I'm editing a paper that's compiled from multiple people, I go back through and add spaces if they only put one in... OCD.

Another grammar thing that bothers me... when listing multpile items and using commas, I always put a comma before the 'and' and so many people don't. (Ex: I went to the store and bought apples, oranges, and bananas.) I have to have a comma before the and. That's definitely one I go back and add commas in on.

 

[psjlg2]

I have to have a comma before the and. That's definitely one I go back and add commas in on.

Hey! I thought it was only me with the comma before "and" pet peeve. It drives me absolutely banana sandwich if there isn't one before the "and".

I don't understand the whole spaces thing, why I was taught that in the first place I have no idea. I can't make myself stop but I'm excited that I can skip the space space because I can use another crazy adjective somewhere that I cut out because I was in crunch mode.

 

[twelvetigers]

Hey! I thought it was only me with the comma before "and" pet peeve. It drives me absolutely banana sandwich if there isn't one before the "and".

ME. TOO. Seriously. Haha, banana sandwich, I like that.

yea you do. I did it today and I think the girls at the test center were laughing at me because to took me so long. And of course, my words were huge and I ran out of space...so I continued onto the back.

I took the damn thing twice, you'd think I would remember doing that?? Apparently not.

Maybe my brain has... melted... since then. Or something like that. 😉

 

[billw]

Use one space after a sentence when using a proportional font (almost any font that you would typically use in a word processor). Use two spaces when using a fixed-width font (Courier, for example) or when using a typewriter. There are few circumstances where it is necessary to use two spaces these days.

 

[ORvetgirl]

Ha, this is so funny! I don't really consider myself an "older" student (only took one year off between undergrad and vet school), but I was definitely taught two spaces. It drives me nuts when people only put one space.

I also am a "comma before and" person. That one drives me nuts too.

 

[Mistoffeles]

Ha, this is so funny! I don't really consider myself an "older" student (only took one year off between undergrad and vet school), but I was definitely taught two spaces. It drives me nuts when people only put one space.

I also am a "comma before and" person. That one drives me nuts too.

same here. for whatever reason, it's called the "harvard comma" or the "oxford comma" - whether because it was used by the folks at harvard to distinguish their writing from the folks at yale, back in the 1600s/1700s when such things mattered, or for some other reason (more likely because its use originated in the style manuals of those institutions).

also, in the publishing world, two spaces after a period, one after a comma, is still the standard for typeset texts. if you get a really vicious copy editor (and they can be worse than a really vicious kitten when it comes to leaving stinging cuts on your body), they might just bounce back your entire manuscript and make you add the second space everywhere before they continue editing. (on the standard copy editing test that the NYC publishing houses give you if you want to freelance for them, several of the 256 errors in the three paragraph document are ones of spacing.)

of course in the publishing world, they like capital letters as well. 🙂

 

[DVMDream]

I am also a two space person. I was taught it that way and now it is just a habit to hit the space button twice after a sentence. I am also a comma before the and person it drives me nuts when people do not put the comma before the and. Well, now I also have a way to create more room in my PS when I start it. 😀

 

[GellaBella]

Count me in as a 2-spacer. I just thought thats how everyone writes, although this thread got me thinking, so I asked my fiance and he says he has always put 1 space after a period. He says he's never heard of the 2-space rule. weird. I think I'll stick with the 2 spaces. Its just so ingrained, I don't think I could stop even if I wanted to.

I am kinda lax about the comma before and. I used to always put it, then sort of stopped doing it on my own however my PI always adds it back in.

 

[No Imagination]

I fought long and hard with my committee (library didn't care) to let me keep two spaces between period and new sentence...

It's the little things in life!

 

[rouxeny]

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