HTML contains several elements for defining text with a special meaning.
This text is bold
This text is italic
This is subscript and superscript
Formatting elements were designed to display special types of text:
<b> - Bold text<strong> - Important text<i> - Italic text<em> - Emphasized text<mark> - Marked text<small> - Smaller text<del> - Deleted text<ins> - Inserted text<sub> - Subscript text<sup> - Superscript text
The HTML <b> element defines bold
text, without any extra importance.
<b>This text is bold</b>
This text is bold
The HTML <strong> element defines
text with strong importance. The content inside is typically displayed in
bold.
<strong>This text is important!</strong>
This text is important!
The HTML <i> element defines a part
of text in an alternate voice or mood. The content inside is typically
displayed in italic.
Tip: The <i> tag
is often used to indicate a technical term, a phrase from another
language, a thought, a ship name, etc.
<i>This text is italic</i>
This text is italic
The HTML <em> element defines
emphasized text. The content inside is typically displayed in italic.
Tip: A screen reader will pronounce the words in
<em> with an emphasis, using verbal
stress.
<em>This text is emphasized</em>
This text is emphasized
The HTML <small> element defines
smaller text:
<small>This is some smaller text.</small>
This is some smaller text.
The HTML <mark> element defines
text that should be marked or highlighted:
<p>Do not forget to buy
<mark>milk</mark>
today.</p>
Do not forget to buy milk today.
The HTML <del> element defines text
that has been deleted from a document. Browsers will usually strike a line
through deleted text:
<p>My favorite color is
<del>blue</del>
red.</p>
My favorite color is blue red.
The HTML <ins> element defines a
text that has been inserted into a document. Browsers will usually
underline inserted text:
<p>My favorite color is
<del>blue</del>
<ins>red</ins>.</p>
My favorite color is blue red.
The HTML <sub> element defines
subscript text. Subscript text appears half a character below the normal
line, and is sometimes rendered in a smaller font. Subscript text can be
used for chemical formulas, like H2O:
<p>This is
<sub>subscripted</sub>
text.</p>
This is subscripted text.
The HTML <sup> element defines
superscript text. Superscript text appears half a character above the
normal line, and is sometimes rendered in a smaller font. Superscript text
can be used for footnotes, like WWW[1]:
<p>This is
<sup>superscripted</sup>
text.</p>
This is superscripted text.
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <b> | Defines bold text |
| <em> | Defines emphasized text |
| <i> | Defines a part of text in an alternate voice or mood |
| <small> | Defines smaller text |
| <strong> | Defines important text |
| <sub> | Defines subscripted text |
| <sup> | Defines superscripted text |
| <ins> | Defines inserted text |
| <del> | Defines deleted text |
| <mark> | Defines marked/highlighted text |
For a complete list of all available HTML tags, visit our HTML Tag Reference.