punctuation - Should I write "module/theme" or "module / theme"?


I usually put a space before and after /, when indicating alternatives.



We review a module / theme per user.



Is it correct, or should I rewrite the sentence to remove those spaces?



We review a module/theme per user.




Answer



You should remove the spaces. Unless, of course, you are quoting a poem, in which case the slash indicates a line break:



We review a module
theme per user.



Wikipedia has more info:



There are usually no spaces either before or after a slash. Exceptions are in representing the start of a new line when quoting verse, or a new paragraph when quoting prose. The Chicago Manual of Style (at 6.112) also allows spaces when either of the separated items is a compound that itself includes a space: Our New Zealand / Western Australia trip. (Compare use of an en dash used to separate such compounds.) The Canadian Style: A Guide to Writing and Editing prescribes "No space before or after an oblique when used between individual words, letters or symbols; one space before and after the oblique when used between longer groups which contain internal spacing", giving the examples "n/a" and "Language and Society / Langue et société".



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