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7.02 Spacing

As a general rule, in English there is no space before and one space after a punctuation mark. Exceptions follow.

Period

No space before or after a decimal period between numerals:

  • 10.6 million Canadians
  • $7.45

A space before and none after a decimal period not preceded by a numeral:

  • a .22 calibre rifle

A space after a period following a person’s initial:

  • W. S. Avis

No space before or after a period in multiple numeration:

  • subsection 2.5.12

No space before or after a period when followed by a comma or a closing quotation mark, parenthesis or bracket:

  • John Fraser Jr., Ellen Putniak and George Zeller were nominated.
  • (See Chapter 21.)

No space before the periods following the capital letters in the official abbreviations of provinces and territories and no space after such periods except the last one:

  • P.E.I.
  • Y.T.

Ellipsis points

A space before, between and after ellipsis points:

  • There was little he could say . . . so he said nothing.

See also 7.05 Ellipsis points and 8.09 Omissions.

Question mark and exclamation mark

No space before or after a question or exclamation mark when followed by a closing quotation mark, parenthesis or bracket:

  • The delegate added, "Is it not high time we tightened our belts and dealt with the deficit?"

Comma

No space before or after a comma when followed by a closing quotation mark:

  • "Stop procrastinating," she said.
  • The terms "interfacing," "conferencing" and "downsizing" are now part of the language of business.

No space before or after a comma used to separate triads in numbers (see Note 2 in 5.09 Decimal fractions):

  • $12,670,233

Colon

No space before or after a colon when used to express ratios or the time of day using the 24-hour clock, or to separate chapter and verse, volume and page, act and scene in references to books, plays, etc.:

  • a slope of 1:4
  • We arrived at 15:30
  • Psalms 39:5

Parentheses and brackets

One space before and none after an opening parenthesis or bracket within a sentence; no space before or after a closing parenthesis or bracket when followed by a punctuation mark:

  • Please read the enclosed booklet (Using Your Modem); it will help you take full advantage of your new communication tool.

No space before or between parentheses enclosing subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs, etc., in citations from legislation:

  • subparagraph 123(4)(b)(ii)

Em dash, en dash and hyphen

No space before or after these marks when they are inserted between words, a word and a numeral, or two numerals:

  • I will support you in any way I can—even to the point of silence.
    —Eugene Forsey
  • a few 90-cent stamps
  • pp. 134–200

Oblique

No space before or after an oblique when used between individual words, letters or symbols; one space before and after the oblique when used between longer groups which contain internal spacing:

  • n/a
  • Language and Society / Langue et société

Apostrophe

No space before or after an apostrophe within a word.

One space before and none after an apostrophe used to indicate omitted figures in dates:

  • the committee’s report
  • the employees’ suggestions
  • the class of ’79

Quotation marks

One space before and none after an opening quotation mark within a sentence; no space before or after a closing quotation mark when followed by a punctuation mark:

  • The Minister spoke of "a full and frank discussion with all parties"; a resolution to the conflict is expected within the week.

9.06 Translation

If the translated (English) title appears on the title page of a publication in another language, it follows the primary title in the bibliographic entry and is italicized, with a period separating the two elements:

  • Von Keitz, S., and W. von Keitz. Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft. Library and Information Science. Weinheim, Germany: VCH Verlagsgesellschaft, 1989.

If you yourself must provide a translation, insert the English version of the title (no italics) in brackets after the primary title, capitalize the initial word, and place a period after the closing bracket:

  • Chang-Rodríguez, Eugenio. Latinoamérica: su civilización y su cultura [Latin America: its culture and civilization]. Boston: Heinle and Heinle, 1991.

For a publication in which French and English titles are given, both languages should be included:

  • Canada. Department of Canadian Heritage. Convention on the Rights of the Child. First Report of Canada / Convention relative aux droits de l’enfant. Premier rapport du Canada. Ottawa, May 1994.

Note the space on each side of the oblique.

The publisher’s name should not be translated, but for the benefit of the unilingual reader the place of publication may be:

  • L’Europa mediterranea: Spagna, Portogallo, Francia. Arnoldo Mondadori, ed. Milano (Milan): Panorama, 1990.

When no translation is given on the title page, check whether translations of the work are already on record at the National Library of Canada, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI) or elsewhere before translating the primary title. Accuracy of translation is essential.