##  [punctuation: standard spacing in English and French](/writing-tips-plus/punctuation-standard-spacing-in-english-and-french)

##  Avertissement

Ce contenu est offert en anglais seulement.

Spacing with punctuation is not always the same in English and French. For guidelines on spacing in both official languages, refer to the tables below.

## On this page

- [Spacing in English](#spacing-english)
- [Spacing in French](#spacing-french)

## Spacing in English

Table 1: Spacing in English
| Punctuation mark | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| apostrophe (within a word)  - the woman’s hat | no space | no space |
| apostrophe (end of word)  - the employees’ suggestions | no space | 1 space |
| colon  - We’ll need the following: a tent, sleeping bags and good weather. | no space | 1 space |
| comma  - She was born on Friday, March 13, 2009. | no space | 1 space |
| decimal point  - 43.5 hours | no space | no space |
| ellipsis (unspaced, i.e. no space between ellipsis points)  - There was little he could say … so he said nothing. | 1 space | 1 space |
| em dash  - Jean’s car—a silver Lexus—was stolen last night. | no space | no space |
| en dash  - pages 84–95   **Note**: A spaced en dash may be used in a sentence in place of an unspaced em dash. In that case, the en dash has one space before and after it:  - Jean’s car – a silver Lexus – was stolen last night. | no space | no space |
| exclamation point  - Wow! That’s wonderful! | no space | 1 space |
| hyphen  - the bride-to-be | no space | no space |
| oblique (used between two letters, symbols or words)  - n/a - and/or | no space | no space |
| oblique (used to separate a single word or group of words from another group of words)  - Language and Society / Langue et societé - highlights / key points | 1 space | 1 space |
| parenthesis or bracket (opening)  - The em dash (long dash) is a substitute for the comma, colon or semicolon. | 1 space | no space |
| parenthesis or bracket (closing)  - Using personal pronouns (I, you, we) helps us write more clearly. | no space | 1 space |
| period  - You can drop by tomorrow. I’ll be home. | no space | 1 space |
| question mark  - What did he say? I wasn’t listening. | no space | 1 space |
| quotation marks (opening)  - She said, “We have nothing to fear … | 1 space | no space |
| quotation marks (closing)  - … but fear itself.” | no space | 1 space |
| semicolon  - To err is human; to forgive, divine. | no space | 1 space |

## Spacing in French

Table 2: Spacing in French
| Punctuation mark | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| apostrophe | no space | no space |
| colon | 1 non-breaking space[Footnote \*](#fn*) | 1 space |
| comma | no space | 1 space |
| decimal comma | no space | no space |
| dashes (em and en) | 1 space | 1 space |
| ellipsis (unspaced, i.e. no space between ellipsis points) | no space | 1 space |
| exclamation point | no space | 1 space |
| oblique (used between two letters, symbols or words) | no space | no space |
| oblique (used to separate a single word or group of words from another group of words) | 1 space | 1 space |
| parenthesis or bracket (opening) | 1 space | no space |
| parenthesis or bracket (closing) | no space | 1 space |
| period | no space | 1 space |
| question mark | no space | 1 space |
| quotation marks (opening) | 1 space | 1 non-breaking space\* |
| quotation marks (closing) | 1 non-breaking space\* | 1 space |
| semicolon | no space | 1 space |

## Footnote

Footnote \* *To create a non-breaking space in Word, hold down Ctrl and Shift when you hit the space bar. In WordPerfect, hold down Ctrl when you hit the space bar. For any other word processors, check the special characters section*.

[Return to footnote \* referrer](#fn*-rf)

##  Avis de droit d’auteur pour l’outil Writing Tips Plus

© Sa Majesté le Roi du chef du Canada, représenté par le ou la ministre des Services publics et de l’Approvisionnement
Un outil créé et mis en ligne par le Bureau de la traduction, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada

## Rechercher par thèmes connexes

Vous voulez en apprendre davantage sur un thème abordé dans cette page? Cliquez sur un lien ci-dessous pour voir toutes les pages du Portail linguistique du Canada portant sur le thème choisi. Les résultats de recherche s’afficheront dans le [Navigateur linguistique](/fr/navigateur-navigator).

- [Writing conventions](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A512#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results)
- [Spacing](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A512&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A516#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results)

## Liens connexes

- [Writing Tips Plus](/fr/writing-tips-plus/index-fra) (page d’accueil)
- [Outils d’aide à la rédaction](/fr/outils-tools/index-fra)
- [Navigateur linguistique](/fr/navigateur-navigator) (permet de trouver rapidement des conseils linguistiques)
- [TERMIUM Plus®](http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-fra.html?lang=fra)