Spaces

One of the most under-recognised punctuation marks is the space. Think about it: without the humble space, allofourtextwouldsimplybleedintoalongline.

This entry summarises 2 of the uses of a space to watch out for:

  • at the end of a sentence
  • breaking over a line.
End of sentences
Insert only one character space after the full stop
... end of a sentence. The start of another ...

Perhaps the most controversial space in the world of style is the one that comes at the end of a sentence.

The traditional practice in business and government was to add 2 spaces after a full stop before the next sentence started. In the age of the typewriter, this was to ensure there was enough space between sentences, as typewriter carriages could vary in movement.

In the age of the word processor, the spacing between sentences is precise and certain, so the more efficient single space is all you need to add.

Non-breaking spaces
Use them to stop word–number phrases such as dates splitting over the line
22 October 2020 
42 kilometres apart

It’s good practice to use non-breaking spaces in any phrases that link words with numbers, such as dates, times and units of measurement. We’d recommend non-breaking spaces for all the spaces in the examples below.

4 April 2018
8 pm
15 metres / 15 m
Stage 3

To create a non-breaking space in MS Word, you’ll need to insert a special character. In the symbol browser, the non-breaking space looks like the degree symbol. It is invisible on screen and when printed.

This can feel a bit fussy, but it will save you from text looking like this:

4
April 2018
8
pm
15
m
Stage
3
See also:   Dates,  Measurements,  Numbers