Word wrap and word division

The difference between print and web text editing traditions is not merely confined to character selection. Text justification may also be an issue. Texts for print media such as letters, books, magazines and newspapers are usually fully justified (left and right). Web media, in contrast, tend to be left-justified because they are viewed at different page widths on different screens, and large horizontal gaps may appear between words if a fully justified text is viewed in a narrow window. This problem can be solved in word processing documents if the right dictionaries are installed (if not, words may be divided in the wrong place) and automatic word division is activated. The program will then split long words at the end of lines to reduce the appearance of long spaces between words when full justification is used.

Word wrap is the feature that automatically carries down any word that does not fit at the end of a line. Although it is a fundamental feature of word processors, it can lead to problems when items that should be on the same line are split over two lines. To avoid this, use non-breaking spaces, for instance between an honorific and the following name, or between the different groups of digits in bank account and serial/lot numbers.

To do this in a Word document, first write the honorific and the following name all together, or else the number all together (e.g., MrJones or 20133476244700000418), and then position your cursor between the honorific and the name (Mr|Jones) or, in the case of the number, between the groups of digits you want to separate (2013|3476, then 3476|24 and finally 24|4700000418), and in each of these places press Control+Shift+Space. To do this in an HTML document, insert the entity   in that same position.

Exemple adequatMr Jones

Exemple adequat2013 3476 24 4700000418 (a bank account number)

Universitat de Barcelona. Serveis Lingüístics
Darrera actualització: 5-10-2023
Recommended citation:
«Word wrap and word division» [en línia]. A: Llibre d’estil de la Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona. Serveis Lingüístics. <https://www.ub.edu/llibre-estil/criteri.php?id=2483> [consulta: 29 març 2024].