To not put a double space before a sentence?

[beeefcake]

Having a debate with a colleague who insists the correct way to type is with a double space before the start of each sentence within a paragraph.

To me this looks strange and is unnecessary with modern word formatting which naturally creates a slightly bigger space after a full stop.

AIBU???????

It was normal years ago with typewriters and early word processors. Not necessary nowadays and looks stupid.

Very old fashioned now. My mum would do it as she was taught to type back in the 60s, but it would look archaic today.

There was a GCSE in keyboarding?!

I have honestly never heard of this or noticed it and I have written a lot! I'm late forties.

Thanks all, I had a feeling it was an age related thing as I have never had it mentioned to me in my entire time at school or university, as has no one of a similar age to me (mid 20s).

@KatherinaMinola I loved the article

I prefer a double space. I find it difficult to skim read when only single spacing is used as all the sentences run in together (also showing my age with this as I learned to type in 1972)

Typewriters use fixed width fonts, double spacing looks better with fixed width fonts even on screens. I still use double spacing for fixed width.

Most word processing software and webpages use proportional fonts which don't need the extra space to create the visual "stop" as the space is adjusted character by character. I use single spaces on proportional fonts.

As others have said, it's archaic. Modern typefaces are designed to be used with one space. Using two looks unnecessarily gappy and isn't the standard for modern publications.

I'm an editor and typesetter so do this for a living! Luckily it's easy to fix in manuscripts with a quick find and replace.

What you mean like this?XXX xxxxx vvvvvvvvvvvv and dh ehfghg hnhnhkhkhkhkhjjljkjjkjkjkjkjkjkjkjk.

ccvvvvvvvvv cncnb gjg hjh hmh jj jk klh dfbfhfbggjgnhnhk khnj jkj jkjmj, jjkkkkkkkkkk

What a pointless waste of time.

Proofreader here, every publisher I've worked for would delete the extra space.

YANBU.

Very old-fashioned and unnecessary nowadays.

Oh it doesn't work on MN posts - a lesson for us all I think

I am 34 and single space, as do most of my colleagues (who are younger than me). We all learnt to type on computers, so I think that may be the key.

The only time I tend to see double spaces is from temps (or long since retired older colleagues).

I prefer a single space, but am not that bothered about it to need to go and change it - the only time I will is if the double space has stretched and looks bigger because the text is justified.

As long as the spelling and grammar is correct and the work is typed, I am really not overly concerned either way, but I think it may be a computer v typewriter cause.

I do it, but only on stuff that's going to end up on paper. On paper, it looks wrong without the double space, but on a screen it doesn't.

I've learned to live with split infinitives, too, I must be mellowing in my old age.

In my line of work I write lots of professional reports and I have ditched the double space. No-one has every noticed....

2 spaces is the way that it used to be taught. I do it automatically. I think it looks nicer too.

Another who works in publishing here. Never double space, whether online content or printed on paper, or anywhere else. Not for any company I've ever worked with/for (which is many).

That's what I was taught when I was a trainee lawyer in the 90s I think it looks better too - so still do it. Youngsters don't...

It was how I was taught in 1960 and I'm unlikely to change now. I also find double spaced easier to read.

In my experience it's quite a good indicator of someone who went to private school.

I was taught to do a double space at the end of a sentence too. However I now make my living writing for websites and the double space is considered archaic - it's quite easy to train yourself out of it.

When I did typing classes after school as a sixth former it was the taught method, although I never understood why really.

I am in my fifties now, and still often do it out of habit. Both a single and a double space after a full stop are acceptable these days, and I can't say I really pay any attention to what other people do.

So why do all my apple products put the full stop in if I double space then. I never press the full stop button at all just twice on the space bar.

Just proved it twice. Make that 3 times. I did however miss a question mark in my attempt to make sure I wasn't going mad. (5 times)

I was taught to type in the '80s probably the last to learn on a manual typewriter. I'll be honest though I can never tell if people have or haven't by looking at it so it is a non issue.

I actually use a special plug in that automatically allows me to adjust font, paragraphs line and sentence spacing online. It massively speeds up reading online as you can skip past useless introductions etc with ease. It does break the format on most Web pages though! I set the sentence spacing to wide.

I think most style guides advise against especially newspapers and magazines as double spacing encourages this type of reading. Single spacing means you have to search really hard to skip useless chunks of an article..

I'm 34 and was taught double spaces this at my (rather old-fashioned) school. I weaned myself of it in 2012 when I realised that no one else was doing it and it made me look a bit stupid. I would say it took about a month to break the habit.