Many people wonder whether to use a space before and after slashes in a sentence. Generally, capitalize the first letter of the word following the colon if the colon introduces multiple sentences or if the colon introduces a quotation that could function as an independent sentence. Likewise, journal article titles and book article titles are not italicized. Colons and semicolons should never be used interchangeably. Aug 11, 2007 there are many styles and variations of lists. The chicago manual of style online is the venerable, timetested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. Epidemiological evidence has shown that a diet high in fat and low in fruits, vegetables, and fiber contributes to. List of books and articles about colorectal cancer online. How many spaces after a period in a sentence answers. Do notcapitalize the first letter of each item in a list when the items are included in a sentence. Include two spaces after the colon if what follows is a complete sentence.
After my podcast explaining why we now put one space after a period at the end of a sentence, rebecca wrote in to ask how many spaces go after a colon just as with the period, it used to be common to put two spaces after a colon, but now most style guides that address the matter e. For any citations ending with a url all hyperlinking blue, underline is removed and. Lots of people still do it because it used to be a rule, and thats how they were taught. This practice is discouraged by the university of chicago press, especially for formally published works and the manuscripts from which they are published. Standard disability listings under which you can automatically qualify for benefits appear in the ssas blue book, and colon and rectal cancer are described in. Originally, typewriters had monospaced fonts skinny letters and fat letters took up the same amount of space, so two spaces after ending punctuation marks such as the period were used to make the text more legible. To make the changes to two spaces, regardless of whether theyre marked with blue wavy underlines, use the replace dialog. But of all the colonenhanced titles i found, one was conspicuous by its absence. The colon is used to separate two independent clauses when the second explains or illustrates the first. Do not capitalize the first letter of each item in a list when the items are included in a sentence. In such usage, the colon functions in much the same way as the semicolon. It is used to indicate a range of values or a relationship between values. Why adding a colon is not the solution to your booknaming woes because even the brightest readers wont be able to remember your ridiculous 67word book title i think i may have just stumbled upon my next selfpublishing project. The same would be true for titles in a reference list where only the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a.
Ironically, this suggestion came from the professor who wrote their textbook, which was professionally typeset, and of course only used one space after the periods throughout the book. Asked in grammar, sentence and word structure, periods exclamation points. One basic rule of apa style is to capitalize the first word after the colon in a title. In monospaced fonts, the letters are all the same width, so an i is the same width as an m, but in. In my legal research course, i would miss points for forgetting a period, including extra spaces, mixing underlined case names with italicized names, and other small mistakes. According to the 8th edition of mla, we are now being asked to use only one space after a period that ends a sentence. In endnotes, citation sentences begin one space after a textual proposition. The em dash can be used in place of a colon when you want to emphasize the conclusion of your sentence. A colon is also used between hours and minutes, titles and subtitles of books, city and publisher in bibliographies, in biblical citations between chapter and verse, and for salutations in business letters and other formal letter writing. In korean, spaces are used to separate chunks of nouns, nouns and particles, adjectives, and verbs. The same would be true for titles in a reference list where only the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon or an em dash should be. Jun 10, 2015 after my podcast explaining why we now put one space after a period at the end of a sentence, rebecca wrote in to ask how many spaces go after a colon just as with the period, it used to be common to put two spaces after a colon, but now most style guides that address the matter e. Typing two blank spaces at the end of every sentence is one such habit.
Aug 19, 2011 via the new legal writer blog, the following is a an interesting post about how many spaces should follow a period. The trend in abbreviation is to use neither periods after letters nor spaces between letters, especially for abbreviations made up of all capital letters gibaldi 262. In frenchlanguage typing and printing, the traditional rules are preserved. Adding 2 spaces after a period added too much space between sentences. But for most kinds of writing, the twospace habit is, in fact, no longer the rule. Published work these days rarely features two spaces after a period. And they, in turn, pass the rule along to the next generation of writers. The story of spaces after periods is often told as though monospaced typewriter fonts needed two spaces after a sentence for good readability, and that the wide availability of proportional fonts on computers led to the switch to one space. Aug 24, 2009 the professor recommends using 2 spaces after a period in business writing becuase it is more formal and the norm in the business arena.
The quest for peace, the is capitalized because it is placed directly after the colon. The only time its acceptable to use a space after a slash is when breaking up lines of a poem, song, or play. A good way to remember this is by counting the dots on it. Two spaces after a period may be better than one the. Ap style thats the associated press stylebook, which many journalists live by does not use an oxford comma. Is there a need to put a space after colon in css declaration.
Do you medically qualify through the blue book or otherwise. The professor recommends using 2 spaces after a period in business writing becuase it is more formal and the norm in the business arena. May 11, 2018 one thing that apparently still has the power to infuriate people, though, is how many spaces should be used after a period at the end of an english sentence. If an acronym is commonly used as a word, it does not require explanation iq, lsd, fbi, esp. Proponents of the oxford comma say its necessary to avoid potential ambiguity. If your cancer meets this listing, then you can receive benefits, though youll still need to back up your claim. Just as with the period, it used to be common to put two spaces after a colon, but now most style guides that address the matter e. The colon after the complete sentence and prior to your list is correct. A thin space is traditionally placed before a colon and a thick space after it. One thing that apparently still has the power to infuriate people, though, is how many spaces should be used after a period at the end of an english sentence. However, i still use 2 spaces after a period because good ole stupid word does not space out between characters or after a period. Subscribe and get breaking news, commentary, and opinions on law firms, lawyers, law schools, lawsuits, judges, and more.
Common bluebook citations for federal courts welcome home. After months of deliberation, the jurors reached a unanimous verdict. In englishlanguage modern highvolume commercial printing, no space is placed before a colon and a single space is placed after it. When you elide a portion that runs until the end of a sentence, include the punctuation at the end of the sentence. Most books, magazines, and professional publications use one space. Jun 25, 2019 lawyers who like to get worked up over unimportant issues often grow contentious in their opinions over whether to put one space or two spaces after the period in legal documents. Indent the entire quotation five spaces from the left and right margins. May 08, 2015 the story of spaces after periods is often told as though monospaced typewriter fonts needed two spaces after a sentence for good readability, and that the wide availability of proportional fonts on computers led to the switch to one space.
He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. When to capitalize after colons colons introduce words, phrases, or a series of words or phrases that explain or amplify what came before. But if you begin a new sentence after a citation, that new sentence will be two spaces after the citation. A period piece addresses and answers the question of whether a period should be followed by one or two spaces, but particularly, he highlights the importance of writing, grammar. Spacing after periods, colons, question marks, and exclamation marks. Or, with the line spaces removed and just a single space between them, the sentences could be placed sequentially to constitute a paragraph. The oxford comma or serial comma is a comma placed between the last two items in a series of three or more. Additionally, you should never put a dash next to a colon, since the dash simply doesnt serve any purpose in this construction.
Consequently, i feel that one space after a period makes the text harder to read, so i still use 2. Use a colon to introduce an item or a series of items. I have taught myself to stop putting two spaces after a period and it was hard are over 50 years of age. With these rules in mind, knowing how and when to use a colon in ap style should be much easier. A semi colon has only one dot, and it has only one space after it. Hemingway as cited in austin, 1976 claimed that each book should be a new beginning where the author tries again for something that is beyond attainment. In my first year of law school, i did not take citations too seriously because i was focused on learning my substantive courses. And many people were taught to use that extra space in typing class.
Note that there is no colon when introducing a block quote with a dependent clause. Colons punctuation rules the blue book of grammar and. The space needed after these punctuation marks is proportioned automatically. For quotations of 50 words or more the following formatting instructions should be followed. When an independent clause follows the colon, it may begin with a lowercase or capital letter. Mar 27, 20 adding 2 spaces after a period added too much space between sentences. With a computer, use only one space following periods, commas, semicolons, colons, exclamation points, question marks, and quotation marks. It is the indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the editorial canon with sound, definitive advice. Many lawyers are sharply divided on this issue, with opinions often breaking along generational lines based on when the lawyer originally learned how to type. We have used only one space after a colon for many years now. In the era when type was set by hand, it was common to use extra space sometimes quite a bit of it after periods, a practice that continued into the first half of the twentieth century. Aug 22, 2019 dont place colons after sentence fragments. In fact, the setting in the grammar settings dialog does not change the number of spaces between sentences, but only flags instances that dont match the setting you still have to correct those instances manually.
Lawyers who like to get worked up over unimportant issues often grow contentious in their opinions over whether to put one space or two spaces after the period in legal documents. As with the semicolon, do not capitalize the first word after the colon unless the word is ordinarily capitalized. Colon cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in the united states. Apr 10, 2017 the oxford comma or serial comma is a comma placed between the last two items in a series of three or more. Include one space after the colon if what follows is not a complete sentence. In typing, proper style is 2 spaces after a period.
Inserting colons into the list items seems unnecessary since you are emphasizing the centers over the people. Double spacing after a period could reveal your age. There is a traditional american typing practice, favored by some, of leaving two spaces after colons and periods. How many spaces should follow a period that ends a sentence. Should be singlespaced, indented on both sides, justified, and without quotation marks. Do not capitalize the first item after the colon unless its a proper noun. Debate about two spaces after a period in legal writing. The title of a web page that is an article contained in a larger web site is not italicized. Apparently, requiring two spaces after a period is a timehonored mistake. Traditionally, the endash is the same width as a letter n in a given typeface, but there are no firm standards. Via the new legal writer blog, the following is a an interesting post about how many spaces should follow a period.
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