End of sentence punctuation

Topic

New Reply

I have to edit lots of documents for consistency. Some authors use one space after a sentence and others use two. What is the easiest way to find (say) all occurrences of end-of-sentence punctuation that have only one space afterwards and replace the single space with two spaces? Of course, I don’t want to confuse periods in abbreviations with periods at the end of sentences if I can find an easy way to avoid it.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Reply | Quote

Replies

This is a macro which does what you need. It just does a wildcard search and replace which you could also do yourself.

Sub temp3()
With Selection.Find
.ClearFormatting
.Replacement.ClearFormatting
.Text = “. ([A-Z])”
.Replacement.Text = “. 1”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = True
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End With
End Sub

Reply | Quote

I have to make this change on almost everything, but I always go the other way, I change from 2 spaces to 1 space using search and replace. Using full justification and proportional fonts 1 space works well. It is my understanding that Word inserts an en space after a period, rather than just a space. With multiple edits of most documents, I can search and replace 2 spaces to 1 until I get zero results. This eliminates any 3 space (or more) spots which show up quite distinctly once printed.

Reply | Quote

Hi Andrew:
I haven’t run your macro, but I think there are a couple of things to watch out for. I don’t think it will replace one space with two if the sentence following starts with a number. Also, it will replace one space with 2 between Mr. Jones, Ms. Adams, Dr. Spock, etc.

You might have to modify it, don’t you think?

Reply | Quote

Hi Phil
Good point about the macro. Yes the macro has technical faults however the reasons I am unlikely to be fixing it are:

I don’t use the macro myself as I just global replace two spaces with one. I listen to the arguments but I really don’t care either way and one space is easier to standardise on.

I would expect that titles such as ‘Mr. Jones’ would use a non-breaking space if people were really finicky anyway. I myself am a bit of a anti-punctuation nazi and would use ‘Mr Jones’ instead anyway.

Sentences which start with a number are another matter. I think it is poor form to use a sentence constructed in that way (and following another sentence) unless in a list in which case it won’t fall into the trap.

Reply | Quote

It’s a bit time-consuming. but the grammar checker can find single spaces at the end of sentences and replace with a double space on an instance by instance basis. Look under Tools>Options>Spelling and Grammar, then “Writing Style” and check “Spaces beteen Sentences”.

Reply | Quote

You say you’re editing for consistency.

I suggest you try to standardise on the alternative “punctuation-single space” if possible. This normally looks better and is easier to automate a search-and-replace for consistency.

Using two spaces after punctuation is, strictly speaking, incorrect in set text and harks back to good typing practice before the days of proportional, WYSIWYG fonts. Most “classically trained” typists still use two spaces by reflex and will edit to this standard.

In fact, adding two spaces damages the layout slightly by throwing off the carefully balanced spacing controlled by the application and font metrics. Sticks out like a sore thumb when I read a document like this

And, as noted, it’s much easier to search-and-replace two spaces back down to one than to carry out the reverse.

But you may not have a choice if working to an established style that requires two spaces. I think some legal styles insist on this.

Note that it’s irrelevant on Web pages; HTML (and XML) processors treat any amount of space characters (in normal text) as a single white space, as it should be…

If you need an extra-wide space, Word allows you to use em spaces as a special character.

Cheers,
Sean

Reply | Quote

I have never heard of any legal style that requires 2 spaces after the end of a sentence, and that’s what I do for a living, but if that’s true, it would not be the first time I have learned something new. I agree the 2 spaces refers back to typewriters and it does throw off the best appearance of full justification on proportional fonts.

Reply | Quote

Then you’re more likely to be correct as I haven’t edited for many years, now. I just had a vague recollection that this was required.

It’s always worth finding out why a particular style is called for. I find the double space is almost always a habit, and I try to stamp it out (gently) in-house.

Cheers,
Sean

Reply | Quote

I too have a goal of stamping it out in-house. I have found the 1-space has simplified the process greatly, especially in the case of a document that has been revised by several people.

Reply | Quote

Re:

Reply | Quote

Well, I certainly ain’t going to start a holy war. Do what works best for you, and the people you work with.

I will reserve the right to disagree about comprehension, but it’s only a minor disagreement. I think that too much spacing breaks the rhythm of reading. You should not need an extra space for proportional fonts as a well-designed font will include extra spacing after punctuation in the font metrics.

The problem is that few layout packages (and Word is not a layout package) actually follow very good typographical rules, and may override or ignore font metrics. There may not be that many well-designed fonts, either!

A well-designed page will include many subtle features to include legibility, including additional spacing after punctuation, hanging punctuation on fully set text, ligatures, kerning, character spacing, etc. Most you won’t be aware of, but they have an effect.

A lot of the skills of the old hot-metal typographers and layout artists, which were largely transferred to the phototypesetters, did not make it to the DTP packages.

However, I’m talking about layout for print; on-screen, I suspect that an extra space is likely to help, as a screen is too low-res. to express minor variations in spacing. I would not, personally, use a non-breaking space in HTML to force this; you’re breaking the text flow and can damage layout, but again, it’s IMHO.

As to ragged-right, this is generally accepted to be easier to read than fully justified, precisely because of the standard inter-word spacing. No arguments, there.

Cheers,
Sean

Reply | Quote

Cheers, Sean for this interesting discussion – you definitely know whereof you speak.

Makes me nostalgic for my FrameMaker days when this stuff mattered and equally important, you had tools to do something about it. (I guess FM still exists, I just don’t get to use it anymore…)

A fascinating book on the history and technique of typography is The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst (who by the way recommends the use of a single space between sentences).

Gary

Reply | Quote

Knew whereof I speak, I guess; it’s been a while, and I was never that much of an expert.

At the risk of moving off-topic, Framemaker is now an Adobe product. Adobe’s new DTP package, InDesign, now includes support for some of the typography I mentioned. They have a white paper/marketing piece that shows some examples that might be of interest:

http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/pdf…5typography.pdf

I do not use, or endorse this product. Microsoft are also looking to incorporate better typography into their Reader product; users may have noticed the lining numerals on the page numbers (where descenders on numbers fall below the baseline).

For most people, ‘though, the benefits of attention to these details are marginal at best; and design rules are there to be broken (but it helps if you’re aware of them in the first place!)

Cheers,
Sean

Reply | Quote

I would suggest this: Open the document, to to Edit and then Replace. I would put “.space” in the first box and “.space space” in the replace with box. You could also do just the reverse.

Reply | Quote

I don’t want to reactivate the hornet’s nest, but I’ve just realised there’s an approach that might be helpful when trying to replace single spaces (after the period) with double spaces. (I don’t think it’s been discussed before.)

The basic approach is:

* Replace all “period followed by one space” with “period followed by two spaces”. This fixes the “period plus one space” instances, but also converts “period plus two spaces” to “period plus three spaces”.

* So, now replace all “period plus three spaces” with “period plus two spaces”. Repeat till no more hits are found.

It doesn’t address the other issues (like Ms. Smith), of course.

Reply | Quote

Hi Dale:
Just for your info, if you want to end up with a period & 2 spaces, you can do it in one fell swoop:
Use Wildcards (pattern matching in Word 7 or earlier)
Find: .sp{1,} where sp = spacebar
ReplaceAll: .sp{2} or .spsp

Reply | Quote

Thanks, Phil.

I neglected to explain I was looking for a simpler method, which less technically-minded people would use.

The macro is now part of my amoury. Thanks, again.
Dale

Reply | Quote

I just played around and recorded this macro. I have it looking for single spaces after a period and replacing with two spaces. Then it looks for Mr. and Mrs. with two spaces and changes to one space. It also looks for question marks with one space and changes it to two spaces. Of course you can change it to look for two spaces after any punctuation mark and replace with one space, etc.

Sub EndOfSentence()
‘
‘ EndOfSentence Macro
‘ Macro recorded February 16, 2001 by LonnieB
‘
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = “. ”
.Replacement.Text = “. ”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
End With
Selection.Find.Execute
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
With Selection.Find
.Text = “Mr. ”
.Replacement.Text = “Mr. ”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = “Mrs. ”
.Replacement.Text = “Mrs. ”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
With Selection.Find
.Text = “? ”
.Replacement.Text = “? ”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
With Selection.Find
.Text = “? ”
.Replacement.Text = “? ”
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
End Sub

I thought this was neat. (I can say “neat” can’t I?)

Reply | Quote

Thanks, Lonnie. (PS: Neat is okay.)
Dale

Reply | Quote