 National languages not covered by an authoritative language academy typically have multiple style guides — only some of which may discuss sentence spacing . This is the case in the United Kingdom . The Oxford Style Manual ( 2003 ) and the Modern Humanities Research Association 's <unk> Style Guide ( 2002 ) state that only single spacing should be used . In Canada , both the English and French language sections of the Canadian Style , A Guide to Writing and Editing ( 1997 ) , prescribe single sentence spacing . In the United States , many style guides — such as the Chicago Manual of Style ( 2003 ) — allow only single sentence spacing . The most important style guide in Italy , Il <unk> <unk> di <unk> ( 2009 ) , does not address sentence spacing , but the <unk> di <unk> <unk> ( 2010 ) , the official guide for Microsoft translation , tells users to use single sentence spacing " instead of the double spacing used in the United States " . 
