Spaces, quotation marks and apostrophes: common typography errors

Recognise different kinds of spaces

Regular and non-breaking spaces can look alike but behave differently at line breaks. Do not remove special spacing globally without checking its purpose. Review the affected passage in its real context so the change still fits the rest of the text rather than looking correct in isolation.

Choose quotation marks for the passage

Different languages and editorial styles use different quotation marks. The main issue is accidental mixing rather than the existence of legitimate alternatives. A focused review is usually more useful than rereading everything when the operation only changes one specific part of the text.

Straight and typographic apostrophes

Straight apostrophes are common in code and plain text, while typographic apostrophes are often preferred in prose. The destination determines which form is appropriate. If the content contains names, numbers or technical strings, check those separately before keeping the resulting version.

Avoid breaking technical content

Do not run blind global replacements through URLs, code, identifiers or examples where the original character may be functional. Check names, numbers and technical strings separately. If the content contains names, numbers or technical strings, check those separately before keeping the resulting version.

Define a simple document convention

Document the preferred quotation marks, spacing and apostrophe style for normal prose and explicitly allow exceptions for other languages or technical material. Review the affected passage in its real context so the change still fits the rest of the text rather than looking correct in isolation.

Frequently asked questions