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### 19.8 `\thinspace` & `\negthinspace`

Synopsis, one of:

```\thinspace
\negthinspace
```

These produce unbreakable and unstretchable spaces of 1/6em and -1/6em, respectively. These are the text mode equivalents of `\,` and `\!` (see Spacing in math mode/\thinspace).

You can use `\,` as a synonym for `\thinspace` in text mode.

One common use of `\thinspace` is as the space between nested quotes:

```Killick replied, ``I heard the Captain say, `Ahoy there.'\thinspace''
```

Another use is that some style guides call for a `\thinspace` between an ellipsis and a sentence ending period (other style guides, think the three dots and/or four dots are plenty). Another style-specific use is between initials, as in ```D.\thinspace E.\ Knuth```.

LaTeX provides a variety of similar spacing commands (see Spacing in math mode). With `amsmath`, or as of the 2020-10-01 LaTeX release, they can be used in text mode as well as math mode, including `\!` for `\negthinspace`; before that, they were available only in math mode.