Article ID: 105706
Article Last Modified on 8/16/2005
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Word 6.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Word 6.0a
- Microsoft Word 6.0c
- Microsoft Word 6.0 for Macintosh
- Microsoft Word 6.01 for Macintosh
- Microsoft Word 6.01 for Macintosh
- Microsoft Word 95 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Word 95a
This article was previously published under Q105706
SYMPTOMS
If the Automatic Word Selection option is turned on and you select the
first word in a sentence, Word for Windows may select the period (or
other end-of-sentence punctuation such as a question mark) at the end
of the previous sentence.
Similarly, when you select the second of two words, sometimes Word
selects the first word as well.
CAUSE
You selected two or more spaces to the left of your selected word.
Word defines any spaces before the first space to the left of a word
as part of the preceding word. Word defines the end-of-sentence
punctuation as a separate word. When there are two or more spaces
between two words and you select more than the space to the left of
the word, Word automatically selects the first word (or the
end-of-sentence punctuation), too.
This behavior is by design of Microsoft Word.
For example, in the sentence below, Word selects ". This " if you
select both spaces preceding "This", whereas Word only selects " This
" if you select only one space preceding "This".
This is a sentence. This is another sentence.
NOTE: There are two spaces between the two sentences. Word defines the
period as a separate word, so when you select its trailing space, Word
selects the period as well.
As another example, if you select more than the first space to the
left of "Apple" in the sentence below, Word selects "Fruit" as well.
Fruit Apple
NOTE: There are four spaces between "Fruit" and "Apple".
In contrast, Word does not select the preceding word or the period at
the end of the preceding sentence if there is only one space between
the sentences and you select that space along with the first word of
the sentence.
WORKAROUND
To work around this behavior, use either of the following methods:
- To select text using the mouse when the Automatic Word Selection
option is turned on, do not select more than one space before the
first word in a sentence.
-or-
- Select the text using the keyboard instead of the mouse.
MORE INFORMATION
The Automatic Word Selection option selects the space following any
word you select. When there are two or more spaces between sentences
and you select two or more of those spaces, Word defines those spaces
as part of the preceding word, so it selects that word as well.
To access the Automatic Word Selection option, click Options on the Tools
menu and then select the Edit tab.
Additional query words: Extend
Keywords: kbui kbprb KB105706