Accented Characters
Below are some general instructions on how to make an accented character, followed by a table summarizing ways to make other characters in the same manner.

Creating Accents using MacOS computers
Creating Accents using Windows computers

Mac OS Accented Characters
General Instructions
Summary of Accented Characters
What is this doing, technically speaking?

General Instructions: Mac OS
To illustrate the facility with which accents may be produced in the Mac OS, let us trace through an example of how to produce the character, á.

Step1: Look up the desired character in the table below.

Step2: Note the key sequence that is necessary to produce that character.

Step3: Follow the model listed here for producing the á character, using that key sequence instead.

In this case, to produce á, one must use the sequence ([option] + [E], then “a”). In English, that means to say that you must hold (and continue to hold) the key labeled “option” while you then press the “E” key and let go. Then you must let go of both keys (if you have not already) and proceed to type the letter “a” normally.

Technically, what you are doing is a two step process. By pressing the “option” and “E” keys in the first step, you are alerting the operating system that you would like to put an acute accent on the next vowel you type. In this case, the vowel that received the acute accent was a lowercase a.

To create an accented uppercase A, you follow the same process: hold down the option key and press the “E” key, but you then type a capital A (hold down the shift key while typing the “a” character, without the quotes).

Summary of Accented Character: Mac OS
Summarized below are accents encountered in European language text, along with the shortcuts to produce them in the Mac OS.

Character

Shortcut

à

([option] + [`], then [a])

á

([option] + [ e], then [a])

â

([option] + [i], then [e])

ä

([option] + [u], then [a])

ç

([option] + [c])

Ç

([shift] + [option] + [C])

è

([option] + [ ` ], then [e])

é

([option] + [e], then [e])

ê

([option] + [i], then [e])

ë

([option] + [u], then [e])

ì

([option] + [`], then “i”)

í

([option] + [e], then “i”)

î

([option] + [i], then “i”)

ï

([option] + [e], then “n”)

ó

([option] + [e], then [o])

ô

([option] + [i], then [o])

ö

([option] + [u], then [o])

ñ

([option] + [n], then “n”)

ù

([option] + [ ` ], then [u])

û

([option] + [i], then [u])

ü

([option] + [u], then [u])

Windows OS Accented Characters
Below are some general instructions on how to make an accented character, followed by a table summarizing ways to make other characters in the same manner. You may wish to print this page for facilitated reference while using Internautique.

General Instructions
Summary of Accented Characters
What is this doing, technically?

General Instructions: Windows OS
To illustrate how accents may be produced on your PC, let us trace through an example of how to produce the character, á.

Step 1: Look up the desired character in the table below.

Step 2: Note the key sequence that is necessary to produce that character.

Step 3: Follow the model listed here for producing the á character, using that key sequence instead.

In this case, to produce à, one must use the sequence ( [Alt] + 133 ). In English, that means to say that you must hold (and continue to hold) the key labeled “Alt” while you then type in the number, 133, on your numeric keypad. Then, when you let go of the “Alt” key, the letter à should appear.

NOTE 1: The numeric keypad is the group of keys arranged like a calculator on the right hand side of your keyboard. You must use these keys (and not the single row of keys above the “QWERTY…” keys) to produce accents. Since laptop computers do not generally have a separate numeric keypad, you will be unable to use this methodology on a portable computer.

NOTE 2: You must be sure that the “Num Lock” is active, and/or lit on your keyboard. Generally, there is a “Num Lock” key in the upper left hand corner of the numeric keypad. Usually, pressing it will activate/deactivate an indicator light on the keyboard. The indicator should be lit to indicate that Num Lock is on.

Summary of Accented Characters: Windows OS
Summarized below are accents encountered in European language text, along with the shortcuts to produce them on your desktop PC.

Character

Shortcut

à

( [Alt] + 133 )

á

( [Alt] + 160 )

â

( [Alt] + 131 )

ä

( [Alt] + 132 )

ç

( [Alt] + 135 )

Ç

( [Alt] + 128 )

è

( [Alt] + 138 )

é

( [Alt] + 130 )

ê

( [Alt] + 136 )

ë

( [Alt] + 137 )

ì

( [Alt] + 141 )

í

( [Alt] + 161 )

î

( [Alt] + 140 )

ï

( [Alt] + 139 )

ó

( [Alt] + 162 )

ô

( [Alt] + 147 )

ö

( [Alt] + 148 )

ñ

( [Alt] + 164 )

ù

( [Alt] + 151 )

û

( [Alt] + 150 )

ü

( [Alt] + 129 )

What is this doing, technically speaking?
Technically, what you are doing is telling the computer the ASCII code for the character that you want. Because most text typewritten in the United States does not include accented characters, the U.S. keyboard layout does not include them. However, your operating system (Windows, for example) does have the ability to work with accented characters. As a matter of fact, for any given font, your computer is probably aware of up to 255 different characters. Accessing these characters, can be somewhat tedious, as you may find out.

Globally, accent handling is not always this difficult or tedious. In France, for example, typists are not required to type ASCII codes to place accented characters on screen. In most cases, they are typing on a keyboard which has accented letters available. If your academic career will include a lot of typewritten French, it may be of interest to you to find more information about different keyboard layouts and how to use them with your computer.