Written English typically doesn't require accent marks or special character combinations, but many other written languages do! English has adopted many words and phrases from other languages that do require unique characters, so it's still very possible to run across these special characters even if you aren't writing in, for example, Spanish or French or German.
When adding accent marks to letters, ampersand notation works in a formula of combining the desired letter with an abbreviated name for the accent type.
For example, if you want an n with a tilde (~), the ampersand notation will be
"& + n + tilde;" = ñ.
ñ
Look at the table below to see several examples of accent marks used in words and phrases you may recognize.
| Accent | Formula | Example | Example in a Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| tilde | & + letter + tilde; | ñ | El Niño
|
| acute | & + letter + acute; | é | resumé
|
| grave | & + letter + grave; | à | voilà
|
| circumflex | & + letter + circ; | â | coup-de-grâce
|
| cedilla | & + letter + cedil; | ç | façade
|
| umlaut | & + letter + uml; | ä | doppelgänger
|
| ligature | & + two letters + lig; | œ | hors d'œuvre
|
You Try!
Using your own text editor or the coding space below, practice incorporating accent marks into your coded text.
Below are a list of words you can try, or you can find your own!
| fiancé | español | crème brûlée |
| adiós | bilingüe | naïve |
| touché | piñata | déjà vu |
