Word v. English--2 Questions

[Joe McGuire]

I have 2 questions which might not be totally "Word" questions.

1. Word always flags (with those little green lines) any instances of
having only a single space between sentences, i.e., between a period or
other punctuation ending a sentence and the start of the next sentence. I
have been using two spaces since I first learned how to type on a
typewriter, the original word processor. On the other hand I read articles
by some of our MVPs insisting that Word is so smart with fonts and spacing
that there is no reason to do this any more. OK. But is there a way to
have Word either (a) stop bugging me about the single space thing or (b) fix
the durned problem by making sure there ARE two spaces between sentences?

2. This may be for the grammarians. Word flags every instance of
punctuation I put inside quotes and suggests the punctuation belongs
outside. My advanced education seems to have left this tiny lacuna in my
command of the language. On the other hand, I am not sure I would look for
guidance on the finer points of English in, ahem, Redmond. What's the
rule here? Does the punctuation always go "inside?" Or does it always go
"outside"? Or does it vary (My suspicion, as in: Patrick Henry said, "Give
me liberty or give me death." But : Didn't the President tell us us the
problem was "nukular weapons"?)

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Joe,

Go to Tools > Options > Spelling & Grammar and click the Settings
button. In the next dialog, you can choose whether Word checks for one
or two inter-sentence spaces or doesn't check; and you can choose
whether to flag punctuation inside or outside quotation marks, or not
to check.

Unfortunately, the AutoCorrect feature can't automatically supply a
specified number of spaces at the ends of sentences. The best Word can
do is flag the "wrong" number after the fact, leaving you to correct
it. You can use Find/Replace to make the corrections en masse, and
that can be made into a macro if you want to make the effort.

As far as what's "correct", the rules differ among authorities and
between countries. Most people never notice, even when you're
inconsistent. :-(

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Idaho Word Man]

In the United States, periods and commas are always placed before a closing
quotation mark. Question marks and exclamation points are placed either
before or after a closing quotation mark, depending on whether the
punctuation is part of the quoted material or part of the enclosing sentence.
Colons and semicolons are placed after the closing quotation mark.

Over the last two or three decades, British writers and editors have started
placing commas and periods after the closing quotation mark, but this British
innovation has not migrated across the Atlantic yet.

I always keep the "grammar checker" turned off, since it's wrong at least as
often as it's right.