Spacing

A space is required in between each word in a phrase. Here, we are talking about the words; there are, of course, examples of punctuation that need no space preceding and/or following a word.

Ex	The weather doesn’t look inviting.
	I made couscous for dinner.

Parentheses, which are always used in pairs, allow you to insert additional information. There is a space before and after the parentheses; however, there is no space between the parenthetical phrase and the parentheses. Do not capitalize the first word of a parenthetical phrase unless it is a stand-alone phrase. The punctuation of a phrase is always placed outside the parentheses when it occurs within a sentence. If the parenthetical statement stands alone, the punctuation remains inside the parentheses.

Ex	He chewed his food (quite loudly I might add) while contemplating his life.
	He made his way north in hopes of finding gold. (He would have little chance of finding any.)
	Sally laughed at the movie (which was quite a funny one) until her stomach hurt.

Commas are used to separate grammatical components of a sentence, and can frequently be identified by saying the sentence out loud and identifying pauses. They are placed directly after a word with no space, followed by a space to separate the comma from the following word.

Ex	I’m tired. Yet, I still want to go out tonight!
	Bruno was hoping to get tickets to the concert, but they sold out early.

Quotation marks indicate that the text is given word-for-word. There is no space between the first and last word within the quotations and the quotation marks. However, there is a space before and after them within the phrase. There is no space between the second quotation mark and a period, indicating the end of the sentence, or a comma.

Ex	She whispered, “I’m ready to leave.”
	They overused the word “hypothetical” in the presentation.

Suffixes for ordinal numbers are: -nd, -rd, -st, and –th (e.g. 2^nd, 3^rd, 1^st, and 5^th). There is no space between the number and its suffix. When writing the full date the suffix isn’t required; however, its is required if just the number is included in the phrase.

Ex	I came in 1st place in the race.
	The rent is due on the 5th of the month.
	Yesterday was January 10, 2016.

- There are only a few words that contract in English. Seen most commonly are: subject + auxiliary verb, questions with "is," and negative phrases with "not."

Ex	He’s riding his bike. (He is riding his bike.)
	What’s the time? (What is the time?)
	That doesn’t make sense. (That does not make sense.)

- The apostrophe (which is added in the place of the excluded letters in between the two words) is not separated by any spaces from the words.

Ex	Doesn’t
	Can’t
	Shouldn’t
	She’s
	Where’s

- There are several common ways the slash (/) is used in English. Its punctuation depends on its use. There will be a space following the slash if it denotes a line-break. When it doesn’t denote a line-break, no spaces are required before or after the slash.

- The most common case for a slash to indicate a line-break is in poetry. This is when a space is needed before and after the slash.

Ex	The daisy bloomed / fragile in the wind / gaining strength from the sun

- Frequently, the slash stands in place of per, and, and or. There are no spaces when it is used in these cases. When the sentence uses the slash as and or or, the reader is often able to choose one of the two words. This is used in informal writing.

Ex	My salary is $800/month.
	We were driving around 80km/h.
	If/when Cindy gets married, I’d like to attend her wedding.
	Let’s stop for some food and/or dessert!

- There are also some common abbreviations that incorporate a slash. These shouldn’t be used in formal writing.

Ex	w/o (without)
	P/E ratio (Price-of-earnings ratio)

- The slash is also used with fractions- no spaces required.

Ex	4/5
	6/7