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Though the letters on most keyboards do not carry accent marks, it is possible to accent letters you are typing in any program running on your MacBook. You can use accents with any vowel as well as accented consonants. To accent letters, you will use the “Option” modifier key on your keyboard and an additional key assigned to the specific accent you want to make, whether it is acute, circumflex, grave, tilde or umlaut.
Step 1
Add an acute accent, such as “é,” to a letter, by holding down the “Option” key and the “E” key at the same time and releasing. Type the letter that you want to accent. If you want the accented letter capitalized, hold down the “Shift” key when you type the letter.
Step 2
Add a circumflex accent, such as “ô,” to a letter by holding down the “Option” key and the “I” key at the same time and releasing. Type the letter that you want to accent. If you want the accented letter capitalized, hold down the “Shift” key when you type the letter.
![French Accents On Mac French Accents On Mac](/uploads/1/2/5/8/125836143/753188227.jpg)
Step 3
Add a grave accent, such as “à,” to a letter by holding down the “Option” key and the “`” key at the same time and releasing. The “`” is on the right hand side of the numbers on your keyboard. Type the letter that you want to accent. If you want the accented letter capitalized, hold down the “Shift” key when you type the letter.
Step 4
Add a tilde accent, such as “ñ,” to a letter by holding down the “Option” key and the “N” key at the same time and releasing. Type the letter that you want to accent. If you want the accented letter capitalized, hold down the “Shift” key when you type the letter.
Add an umlaut accent, such as “ü,” to a letter by holding down the “Option” key and the “U” key at the same time and releasing. Type the letter that you want to accent. If you want the accented letter capitalized, hold down the “Shift” key when you type the letter.
Tip
- To view the modifier key codes for other foreign characters and symbols, visit Penn State’s “Computing with Accents, Symbols and Foreign Scripts” page for Mac (see Resources).
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There are four French accents for vowels and one accent for a consonant. Understanding each of these accents is vital because they actually change the pronunciation of the letters that they modify, essentially creating completely different letters for the French language.
Vowel Accents
The accent aigu ´ (acute accent) can only be on an E. At the beginning of a word, it often indicates that an S used to follow that vowel, e.g., étudiant (student).
The accent grave ` (grave accent) can be found on an A, E, or U. On the A and U, it usually serves to distinguish between words that would otherwise be homographs; e.g., ou (or) vs où (where).
The accent circonflexe ˆ (circumflex) can be on an A, E, I, O, or U. The circumflex usually indicates that an S used to follow that vowel, e.g., forêt (forest). It also serves to distinguish between homographs; e.g., du (contraction of de + le) vs dû (past participle of devoir).
The accent tréma ¨ (dieresis or umlaut) can be on an E, I, or U. It is used when two vowels are next to each other and both must be pronounced, e.g., naïve, Saül.
The accent grave ` (grave accent) can be found on an A, E, or U. On the A and U, it usually serves to distinguish between words that would otherwise be homographs; e.g., ou (or) vs où (where).
The accent circonflexe ˆ (circumflex) can be on an A, E, I, O, or U. The circumflex usually indicates that an S used to follow that vowel, e.g., forêt (forest). It also serves to distinguish between homographs; e.g., du (contraction of de + le) vs dû (past participle of devoir).
The accent tréma ¨ (dieresis or umlaut) can be on an E, I, or U. It is used when two vowels are next to each other and both must be pronounced, e.g., naïve, Saül.
Consonant Accent
The cédille ¸ (cedilla) is found only on the letter C. It changes a hard C sound (like K) into a soft C sound (like S), e.g., garçon. The cedilla is never placed in front of E or I, because C always sounds like an S in front of these vowels.
![French Accents On Mac French Accents On Mac](/uploads/1/2/5/8/125836143/871029783.png)
Capital Letters
It is essential to put accents in their proper places; an incorrect or missing accent is a spelling mistake just as an incorrect or missing letter would be. The only exception to this is capital letters, which are often left unaccented.
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