{"id":1020,"date":"2023-02-02T11:24:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T10:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hausarbeiten.de\/?post_type=module&p=1020"},"modified":"2023-03-07T15:32:31","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T14:32:31","slug":"widows-orphans-linebreaks","status":"publish","type":"module","link":"https:\/\/www.hausarbeiten.de\/en\/tutorials\/word-formatting\/widows-orphans-linebreaks\/","title":{"rendered":"Dealing with widows and orphans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\n
What’s most important?<\/div>\r\n
    \n
  • You can find all the options you need in the “Paragraph” section on the “Home” tab.<\/li>\n
  • Use paragraphs to structure your argument in a meaningful way.<\/li>\n
  • Only use soft line breaks if they are absolutely necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    How do you use paragraphs in a meaningful way?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Many students place either too many or too few paragraphs in their documents, leaving the reader with either many short paragraphs or a single large block of text. Neither is optimal. A paragraph should complete a point, that is, it should complete a thought<\/strong> process, so that you can move on to the next one. However, it can also serve to illuminate an aspect from a different perspective<\/strong> or to add additional insights<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Meaningful paragraphs are important for readers because they clarify your argument<\/strong>. Paragraphs can structure your text in a way that increases its readability<\/strong> and thus reading motivation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How do you avoid widows and orphans?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    There are a few basic rules that disrupt the flow of your argument. Two phenomena stand out in particular: widows<\/strong> and orphans<\/strong>. These are single written lines at the beginning or end of a paragraph that dangle at the top or bottom of a page, separated from the rest of the paragraph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Widow:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • a paragraph-ending line that falls at the beginning of the following page<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Orphan:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • a paragraph-opening line that appears by itself at the bottom of a page<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        \"Widows<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        Make sure that your text contains neither widows nor orphans. For eliminating them, there are a few techniques. In general, it’s better to leave some blank space<\/strong> at the top or bottom of the page than to have single lines that are separated from the rest of the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        First, mark your text and activate the “Widow\/Orphan control”<\/strong> in the ” Paragraph” section (which you find in the “Start” tab or by right-clicking on your text and choosing “Paragraph”). You’ll find the “Line and Page Breaks” tab <\/strong>there. Ticking “Widow\/Orphan control” will prevent the last line of a paragraph from appearing at the top or bottom of a page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"Widow\/Orphan<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        That’s an easy way to prevent single-line widows and orphans<\/strong> but sometimes you might want to avoid two-liners, too. We have a few more options to make your text look tidy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Most effective ways to avoid a widow:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        • Use a page break<\/strong> early in your paragraph. This will produce a shorter page, but you can determine by yourself where the paragraph is broken.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Adjust the line spacing<\/strong> or the spacing before and after the paragraph.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Adjust the hyphenation<\/strong> within the paragraph because sometimes you just have to separate a long word in a different place to gain space.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • If there is an image<\/strong> before the paragraph, resize<\/strong> it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Rewrite<\/strong> some parts of the paragraph.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          And how about orphans?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n
          • Just insert a blank line<\/strong> or use a page break<\/strong> to push the orphan line onto the next page.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            How do you work with hard and soft line breaks?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

            Depending on the page format, Word defaults to a certain line length. If a word exceeds this line length, Word automatically inserts a line break: the word slides into the next line and the text continues. In addition, there are soft and hard line breaks that you can set manually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Do you know the difference? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Hard line break (also called Hard return):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

              \n
            • is created by the “Enter” key<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • starts a new paragraph<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • in lists: creates a new list entry with a new numbering or bullet point<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

              Soft line break (also called Soft return):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                \n
              • is created by the shortcut “Shift + Enter”<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • ends the current line without creating a new paragraph<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • in lists: doesn’t create a new list entry but a new line without numbers or bullet points<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                The soft line break is especially useful for address blocks or poems. Just have a try!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                What else do you have to consider?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  \n
                • Avoid separating abbreviations<\/strong> at the end of a line: for keeping expressions together, you can use the “Nonbreaking Space”<\/strong> with the shortcut “CTRL+ Shift+Space”<\/strong>. Use this for percentages, currencies, or measurements<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Quotation marks<\/strong> shouldn’t stand alone at the end or beginning of a line.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                • Don’t separate initials<\/strong> or academic degrees from family names<\/strong> or a house number from its street.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n
                  \r\n
                  ⚠ Don’ts<\/div>\r\n
                    \n
                  • Don’t forget to use paragraphs to structure your text!<\/li>\n
                  • Don’t let widows and orphans make your text look untidy.<\/li>\n
                  • Don’t try to create new paragraphs with soft line breaks.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n\n\n

                    Test yourself: Do you know how to use paragraphs and line breaks in Microsoft Word?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

                    What are paragraphs good for?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
                      \n
                    1. To confuse your readers<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    2. To summon a demon<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    3. To structure your arguments and increase readability and reading motivation<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                      \n    Solution:<\/summary>

                      \n  C – To structure your arguments and increase readability and reading motivation.<\/p><\/details>\n\n\n\n

                      What is a “widow”?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
                        \n
                      1. A paragraph-ending line that falls at the beginning of the following page<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      2. A typo in the middle of the text<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      3. A wrong page number<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                        \n    Solution:<\/summary>

                        \n  A – A paragraph-ending line that falls at the beginning of the following page.<\/p><\/details>\n\n\n\n

                        Where do you find the “Widow\/Orphan control”?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
                          \n
                        1. Under your desk<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        2. In the “Line and Page Breaks” tab in the “Paragraph” section<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        3. At the nearest cafe<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                          \n    Solution:<\/summary>

                          \n  B – In the “Line and Page Breaks” tab in the “Paragraph” section.<\/p><\/details>\n\n\n\n

                          What’s the easiest way to avoid “orphans”?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
                            \n
                          1. Rewrite the whole paragraph<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                          2. Close the document and reopen it<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                          3. Just insert a blank line to push the orphan line onto the next page.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                            \n    Solution:<\/summary>

                            \n  C – Just insert a blank line to push the orphan line onto the next page.<\/p><\/details>\n\n\n\n

                            How do you create a soft line break?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
                              \n
                            1. By using the shortcut “Shift+Enter”<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                            2. By commanding it very strictly<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                            3. By inserting so many spaces until the cursor jumps to the next line<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                              \n    Solution:<\/summary>

                              \n  A – By using the shortcut “Shift+Enter”.<\/p><\/details>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                              Find out how to use paragraphs in a meaningful way, how to avoid separated lines and how to use hard and soft line breaks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1025,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tutorial":[28],"module-tag":[79,118,78,77,52],"class_list":["post-1020","module","type-module","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tutorial-word-formatting","module-tag-line-breaks","module-tag-microsoft-word","module-tag-orphans","module-tag-widows","module-tag-word"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hausarbeiten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/module\/1020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hausarbeiten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/module"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hausarbeiten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/module"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hausarbeiten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/module\/1020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1606,"href":"https:\/\/www.hausarbeiten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/module\/1020\/revisions\/1606"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hausarbeiten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hausarbeiten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"tutorial","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hausarbeiten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tutorial?post=1020"},{"taxonomy":"module-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hausarbeiten.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/module-tag?post=1020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}