weird grammar question
 

I'm not sure if it's old school or what, but I learned that when typing, it is proper to put two spaces after a period (or colon, but that's not as important). However, the Chicago Manual of Style dictates that one period after sentences is correct, and I think it's common (if not universal) to use one space in most publications. I am slowly trying to make the switch, but it's really difficult.

How many spaces do you put after a period?

Two. <space> <space> Always.

Me too. I guess I'm now officially old?

Ditto that. (space) (space) It's a function of what Style Guide you are using, but generally the 2-spaces following a period is the most acceptable form.

I was taught two, but from what I understand, journalists favour one. I had to correct myself when I took PR Writing this year. The teacher said that two spaces is an old secretarial method that is still used by some. It isn't wrong.

One space. Two if it's a formal business document.

As a book publisher, this is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves. For professional documents, manuscripts, etc., please put only one space. :) Taking them out is the first thing we do when we get a manuscript in for publication. Check out newspapers, books, and magazines - you won't find them.

Double space is not WRONG, just not appropriate professionally in certain fields.

i was a journalist long ago and it was one space.
but academically, two spaces, no matter which form you are using..

I still put 2 spaces. However, remember that back when I learned to type, we still used manual typewriters. Yeah, that's really old school!;)

Acually the one space is old school. That is what I was taught. Then it went to two spaces. And then at one point it even went to three. I now go back and forth between one and two depending on the document.

Here's another question. Do you single space and then indent paragraphs, or do you double space with no indentation (or a combination?) And if you indent how many sapces do you indent?

At work, we indent paragraphs about 3 spaces and don't add a space between paragraphs.

In other grammar news, today I received an email from an author insisting that it is a great idea to start sentences with the word "but" -- he even included a five page .pdf file to support his assertion. I mean, if it's that important to you, have at it. But I still think that starting a sentence with "but" is pretty lame.

I seem to remember being taught that you should not start a sentence with "and" or "but."

But I still do it anyway sometimes. (LOL)

I still use two spaces, but I heard recently that it has now changed to one. That's going to be a hard habit to break!

One. I used to do two but I switched it up because, as posted above, basically everything being published uses one. Plus I think one looks better.

I have to actually type to find out. Ok, I naturally did two spaces. That's what we were taught in typing class. When in college, we were taught APA style for all of our papers (that's what our professional journals used) and we had to follow their style for quotes. It also included two spaces after the period back then. I don't know what it says now. These things get revised frequently! It's best to know your audience and which style is expected for that publication.

Dee

I use just one. It was beaten over my head during college because I was going for a career in publication design. So all brochures, reports, etc were all single spaces.

I used to do the two space thing but broke the habit rather quickly after my professors kept asking why I had so much white space between sentences.

One when writing for a publication (news story, etc.), two in other instances.

I was always taught to put 2 spaces and I always do.

Ms. MysticCat, with a journalism background, and I have to agree to disagree on this one.

I'll concede that one is the norm for newspapers and other print media -- it enables to them to get more copy on the page.

But otherwise, use two spaces. It's easier to read.

With computer programs automatically spacing everything, it's no longer necessary to add 2 spaces after a period.

...says the former high school journalism teacher.

:)

Ditto.

Funny, I was just thinking about this the other day (when writing a cover letter). I used to put two on important documents (i.e. thesis, or a cover letter). But, I stopped when I noticed no one else seemed to be doing it....

I'm surprised no one else has said it. I was taught 2 spaces.....when I was 10 years old in the 5th grade. But when I took a technical writing class, and the issue was brought up our professor said that 2 spaces is no longer necessary because of the types of fonts available today. She said (and I forgot the technical term for it) that each letter used to take up the same amound of space width-wise (ie: the letter "i" was just was wide as an "m" and because of that, two spaces was necessary to break up teh sentences and make it easier to read.) It was 1 space after a comma, semi colon or colon, and two spaces after a period. But she said that today it was no longer necessary because of the types of fonts that are available. So i use 1, always.

You're talking about proportional and non-proportional fonts. In non-proportional fonts, which is what all typewriters use, each character takes up the same amount of space.

Computers make proportional fonts (or typeset fonts) available, so that the "i" (or the "." or the " ") takes up less space than an "M."

But I don't buy your professor's reasoning. Because a "." takes such a small amount of space in a proportional font, I think the use of two spaces is more, not less, necessary to facilitate ease of reading. I know I find a proportional font harder to read if there is just one space at the end of a sentence.

FWIW, my word processing program, by default, puts two spaces at the end of a sentence -- even if I only type one space, when I start the next sentence, it will add a second space automatically. This default option can be turned off, of course, or changed so that two spaces become one space, but one-space-to-two was the default.

In my office it's always one space. The reasoning I'm always given is along the lines above. The 2 spaces was for old typewriters and word processing, but now we only need one. When you see two spaces in a doc now I think the extra space looks odd and doesn't make it any easier to read. It's also considered "old-fashioned" in my comapny's industry (brand strategy).

Did she mention that letters were automatically "kerned?" (I'm trying to jog your memory...)

Also interesting to note that HTML does not process more than one space in a row unless you use special characters . . . so nearly everything you read online will only have one space regardless of the author's original format.

I have a question, too. It is about the apostrophe after an "s".

I learned that the apostrophe after the "s" shows the ownership held by more than one person. For example:

The Jones' dog died yesterday.

So because of this I have a pet peeve that has developed. When I see a "s" with an apostrophe after it just because, it bothers me. For example:

Mr. Jones' briefcase was left the building.

I'd love your feedback on this.

Oops let me go edit. Come back in a minute and tell me what you think.

Isn't this correct though? We're talking about a briefcase and Mr. Jones owns it... so therefore there would be ownership.

I know what you are saying though about the "s."

I've never heard that test on apostrophes after a proper noun ending in "s." It really doesn't make sense for the "s" after the apostrophe to indicate ownership by more than one person only where the proper noun ends in "s." In that case, it should be "The Joneses's (or the Joneses') house" (unless one treats "Jones" like "fish" or "deer," where the singular and the plural have the same form).

Strunk & White says always follow the apostrophe with an "s" to indicate possession, even after a proper noun that ends in "s." Fowler's Modern English Usage basically agrees, while noting that it used be common only to add an apostrophe (but no "s") to a proper noun ending in "s." Thus, these two sources would say: Mr. Jones's briefcase was left in the building. (Of course, they would also say to replace this passive sentence with an active one, "Mr. Jones left his briefcase in the building," but that's a different discussion. ;) )

If I'm not mistaken, Lynn Truss of the popular Eats, Shoots & Leaves would not add an extra "s" after the apostrophe. So, she would say: Mr. Jones' briefcase was left in the building.

One rule I learned somewhere along the line is to punctuate it the way you would say it, which makes some sense to me. If you would pronounce an extra "s," then put an "s" after the apostrophe. That is, if you would say "Mr. Joneses briefcase was left in the building," then write "Mr. Jones's briefcase was left in the building." If, on the other hand, you would say "Mr. Jones briefcase was left in the building," then write "Mr. Jones' briefcase was left in the building."

For a fun time-waster, play Lynn Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves Punctuation Game.

See I was taught that it should be Mr. Jones's briefcase. The apostrophe after the "s" would signify more than one Jones. But I'm beginning to think that this might be one of those ta-ma-toe, ta-mah-toe things.

While we're at it, I'd like to voice my displeaure at people who put commas and periods outside the quotes, such as:

Susie said, "Hey, I think you're really swell".

FOR THE LOVE OF PUNCTUATION, STOP DOING THAT.

Also, WTF is up with people who think "each other" is one word? IT IS NOT.

Re: weird grammar question
 

It is always best to consult the stated manual of style that the company prefers.

In writing for publication, the common form is one space after a period.<space>

For business correspondence and other writing, it is two spaces after a period.<space><space>

If taking a typing test for a position (believe it or not required for many many government jobs!), it is important to ask what is required. Some tests will penalize you if you use the wrong style (<space> vs <space><space>) and count each mismatch as an error!!! One error per space in the word :).

I know this one person I tested had a nwpm of -25 because although they typed 55 words a minute, they had too many errors. LOL. Yes we let him retest :).

I perfer two spaces after each period.<space><space>

What's interesting is that in newspapers, the tab at the beginning of a paragraph looks like <space><space> rather than something larger (a standard tab on a word processing program such as Word is two and a half spaces (or is it three?), I think)

Not that I read this whole thread, but I use two spaces after periods, colons, and question marks.

But both are acceptable. We used one space at the local newspaper I interned at.



(Yea, I can help with grammar, I end sentences with prepositions! But I was an English major. Haha seriously. Can't you tell?)

Always remember this:

A preposition is a word that you never end a sentence with.:p

Two spaces when I'm not typing in a word processor. Most word processors put two spaces in there automatically, and that feature has kind of made me unlearn what I know is right.

Per my business writing instructor (yeah my job brought in an expert to give us a 3-week--is that even correct usage--seminar on business writing,) it is now proper to start a sentence with And or But. The reason is shorter sentences are easier to read in business communications and more emphatic.

To The Truth, I was also taught Mr. Jones's in the sentence you described.

Along those lines do you all say Founders Day, Founder's Day, or Founders' Day. In Delta we use Founders Day because it is considered descriptive rather than possessive.

The University of MN just went through a big discussion about this regarding a Scholars Walkway they were constucting. The final decision was no apostophe, but boy did those academians go back and forth. :D

Another question: what are the plural (not possesive) forms of these names?

Meyers
Shultz

Thanks!