Formatting
HTML Formatting Elements
In the previous chapter, you learned about the HTML style attribute.
HTML also defines special elements for defining text with a special meaning.
HTML uses elements like <b>
and <i>
for formatting output, like bold or italic text.
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>
- Small text -
<del>
- Deleted text -
<ins>
- Inserted text -
<sub>
- Subscript text -
<sup>
- Superscript text
HTML <b> and <strong> Elements
The HTML <b>
element defines bold text, without any extra importance.
<b>This text is bold</b>
The HTML <strong>
element defines strong text, with added semantic "strong" importance.
<strong>This text is strong</strong>
HTML <i> and <em> Elements
The HTML <i>
element defines italic text, without any extra importance.
<i>This text is italic</i>
The HTML <em>
element defines emphasized text, with added semantic importance.
<em>This text is emphasized</em>
Note: Browsers display
<strong>
as<b>
, and<em>
as<i>
. However, there is a difference in the meaning of these tags:<b>
and<i>
defines bold and italic text, but<strong>
and<em>
means that the text is "important".
HTML <small> Element
The HTML <small>
element defines smaller text:
<h2>HTML <small>Small</small> Formatting</h2>
HTML <mark> Element
The HTML <mark>
element defines marked or highlighted text:
<h2>HTML <mark>Marked</mark> Formatting</h2>
HTML <del> Element
The HTML <del>
element defines deleted (removed) text.
<p>My favorite color is <del>blue</del> red.</p>
HTML <ins> Element
The HTML <ins>
element defines inserted (added) text.
<p>My favorite <ins>color</ins> is red.</p>
HTML <sub> Element
The HTML <sub>
element defines subscripted text.
<p>This is <sub>subscripted</sub> text.</p>
HTML <sup> Element
The HTML <sup>
element defines superscripted text.
<p>This is <sup>superscripted</sup> text.</p>
HTML Text Formatting Elements
Tag | Description |
---|---|
<b> | Defines bold text |
<em> | Defines emphasized text |
<i> | Defines italic text |
<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.