The phrase tags have been designed for specific purposes, though they are displayed in a similar way as other basic tags like <b>, <i>, <pre>, and <tt>, you have seen in previous chapter. This chapter will take you through all the important phrase tags, so let's start seeing them one by one.
Emphasized Text
Anything that appears within <em>...</em> element is displayed as emphasized text.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Emphasized Text Example</title> </head> <body> <p>The following word uses a <em>emphasized</em> typeface.</p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
The following word uses a emphasized typeface.
Marked Text
Anything that appears with-in <mark>...</mark> element, is displayed as marked with yellow ink.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Marked Text Example</title> </head> <body> <p>The following word has been <mark>marked</mark> with yellow</p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
The following word has been marked with yellow.
Strong Text
Anything that appears within <strong>...</strong> element is displayed as important text.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Strong Text Example</title> </head> <body> <p>The following word uses a <strong>strong</strong> typeface.</p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
The following word uses a strong typeface.
Text Abbreviation
You can abbreviate a text by putting it inside opening <abbr> and closing</abbr> tags. If present, the title attribute must contain this full description and nothing else.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Text Abbreviation</title> </head> <body> <p>My best friend's name is <abbr title="Abhishek">Abhy</abbr>.</p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
My best friend's name is Abhy.
Acronym Element
The <acronym> element allows you to indicate that the text between <acronym> and </acronym> tags is an acronym.
At present, the major browsers do not change the appearance of the content of the <acronym> element.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Acronym Example</title> </head> <body> <p>This chapter covers marking up text in <acronym>XHTML</acronym>.</p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
This chapter covers marking up text in XHTML.
Text Direction
The <bdo>...</bdo> element stands for Bi-Directional Override and it is used to override the current text direction.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Text Direction Example</title> </head> <body> <p>This text will go left to right.</p> <p><bdo dir="rtl">This text will go right to left.</bdo></p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
This text will go left to right.
This text will go right to left.
Special Terms
The <dfn>...</dfn> element (or HTML Definition Element) allows you to specify that you are introducing a special term. It's usage is similar to italic words in the midst of a paragraph.
Typically, you would use the <dfn> element the first time you introduce a key term. Most recent browsers render the content of a <dfn> element in an italic font.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Special Terms Example</title> </head> <body> <p>The following word is a <dfn>special</dfn> term.</p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
The following word is a special term.
Quoting Text
When you want to quote a passage from another source, you should put it in between <blockquote>...</blockquote> tags.
Text inside a <blockquote> element is usually indented from the left and right edges of the surrounding text, and sometimes uses an italicized font.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Blockquote Example</title> </head> <body> <p>The following description of XHTML is taken from the W3C Web site:</p> <blockquote>XHTML 1.0 is the W3C's first Recommendation for XHTML, following on from earlier work on HTML 4.01, HTML 4.0, HTML 3.2 and HTML 2.0.</blockquote> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
The following description of XHTML is taken from the W3C Web site:
XHTML 1.0 is the W3C's first Recommendation for XHTML, following on from earlier work on HTML 4.01, HTML 4.0, HTML 3.2 and HTML 2.0.
Short Quotations
The <q>...</q> element is used when you want to add a double quote within a sentence.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Double Quote Example</title> </head> <body> <p>Amit is in Spain, <q>I think I am wrong</q>.</p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
Amit is in Spain,
I think I am wrong.
Text Citations
If you are quoting a text, you can indicate the source placing it between an opening <cite> tag and closing </cite> tag
As you would expect in a print publication, the content of the <cite> element is rendered in italicized text by default.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Citations Example</title> </head> <body> <p>This HTML tutorial is derived from <cite>W3 Standard for HTML</cite>.</p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
This HTML tutorial is derived from W3 Standard for HTML.
Computer Code
Any programming code to appear on a Web page should be placed inside<code>...</code> tags. Usually the content of the <code> element is presented in a monospaced font, just like the code in most programming books.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Computer Code Example</title> </head> <body> <p>Regular text. <code>This is code.</code> Regular text.</p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
Regular text.
This is code. Regular text.Keyboard Text
When you are talking about computers, if you want to tell a reader to enter some text, you can use the <kbd>...</kbd> element to indicate what should be typed in, as in this example.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Keyboard Text Example</title> </head> <body> <p>Regular text. <kbd>This is inside kbd element</kbd> Regular text.</p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
Regular text. This is inside kbd element Regular text.
Programming Variables
This element is usually used in conjunction with the <pre> and <code>elements to indicate that the content of that element is a variable.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Variable Text Example</title> </head> <body> <p><code>document.write("<var>user-name</var>")</code></p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
document.write("user-name")Program Output
The <samp>...</samp> element indicates sample output from a program, and script etc. Again, it is mainly used when documenting programming or coding concepts.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Program Output Example</title> </head> <body> <p>Result produced by the program is <samp>Hello World!</samp></p> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
Result produced by the program is Hello World!
Address Text
The <address>...</address> element is used to contain any address.
Example
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>Address Example</title> </head> <body> <address>388A, Road No 22, Jubilee Hills - Hyderabad</address> </body> </html>
This will produce following result:
388A, Road No 22, Jubilee Hills - Hyderabad
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