Accents / Keyboards

To obtain special characters and accents on a Macintosh computer, use the Option key and the desired special character (for example, Option+e + e for é, Option + c for ç, Option ` + vowel for à, è and ù, Option+u + vowel for ï ë, Option+i + vowel for circumflex â ê î ô û). For a few other Macintosh shortcuts, see chart below.
On many Macintosh devises, you can also hold down any vowel (or accented consonant such as ñ or ç) and select the accented letter from pop-up options.

Instructional videos:

• For Windows 10: Click here for a YouTube tutorial for installation as well as keystroke instructions for accent marks and special characters used in French (Duncan Hazlewood, Abbotsford School District, BC, Canada).
• To type accents on Macintosh OS computers, click here for a four-minute instructional video summarizing use of the "option" key for accents and how to find all other special characters (Gary Rosenzweig, MacMost Now, 2011).

Smartphones/Tablets/TouchScreens: On many smartphones and tablet computers, pressing and holding a vowel (or a consonant such as n for ñ, c for ç, and some punctuation) gives pop-up options for alternate or accented letters, punctuation and special characters. This also works on many computers with touch screens and on all Macintosh computers. Adding French to input languages (with word-processing or email programs) will suggest correct accents and punctuation while typing. 

How to add the US-International keyboard to computers running on Windows (prior to Windows 10):

Note: There are slight differences depending on Windows operating systems: the end result is always the "keyboard" with "US-International" layout available. For older Windows platforms, go to Control Panel, choose Keyboard and add the keyboard desired (under "Language"). 

If you do not have an accent-capable keyboard installed and

• are online, use the Type French accents online site (by T. Szynalski) to cut and paste texts (includes capital letters with accents).
• are using Word, open the character map (usually found under "Accessories") to cut and paste accented letters. (Be sure to use a font that contains accents, preferably the same font as that of document. Correct for uniformity: font size and style changes often remain in Microsoft "Word").
• are using WordPerfect, press Ctrl+W for multiple keyboards & characters.
• are lost, you can hold the ALT key while typing a 3-number Unicode-based key identifier, such as ALT+139 for "ï" or ALT+248 for "°" (for French, many numbers are between 128 and 151 but there are others). This lengthy keystroke method is not recommended.

All word-processing programs include options to CHANGE LANGUAGE, utually under "Tools". Before starting your document, set its input language to French. Correct punctuation (hard spaces, French quotation marks, etc.) and spelling suggestions should appear when typing. If a document was started in English, choose "select all" and edit to change to French.

The US-International keyboard turns apostrophes, trema, tilde, and circumflex keys into "dead" keys.  (Marked in red on the illustration below).  When you press, say, an apostrophe, it does not show on the screen.  The computer is waiting for the next key.

e.g., (a vowel) you press ' and then e:    you get é  (accented vowel)
e.g., (a consonant) you press ' and then h:    you get 'h  (apostrophe + consonant)
          Accented consonants N and C:  Use the ~ key + n for ñ and the ' + c for ç
if you want to type the apostrophe or quotation mark by itself (e.g., before a vowel), press the apostrophe (or quotation mark) then press the spacebar.

Some web sites and software use other methods to type accents. Note also that vowels that may be corrected by a ligature () may not not recognized online.

The US-International keyboard shown below is installed on the Windows OS computers in the language lab, Carman B-37.

There are other special characters; test for them.

NOTE: When the US-International keyboard is installed, some accents are also accesible by holding down the "ALT" key on the right side of keyboard, and clicking the letter. e.g.,
          Alt + e = é
          Alt + , = ç
          Alt + 5 = €

Some characters are generated automatically, depending on word processing systems and language settings: double - - hyphens become – n-dashes; triple --- become — m-dashes; oe is forced into a œ; triple periods ... become ellipses …; quotation " marks are changed to French ones « » with hard spaces; superscript is added (1er for example becomes 1^er). Change default settings, when necessary.

L'espace insécable (non-breaking space). When writing in French, punctuation (such as ? ! : ; « ») is usually separated from words with a non-breaking space. For clean copy (without punctuation floating alone at beginning or end of lines), use "hard" spaces (non-breaking spaces) to keep punctuation attached to word. If not automatically inserted with the word processing program you use, for Windows, type Ctl-Space or Ctl-Shift-Space (depending on software) and for Macintosh, type ALT+space for a "non-breaking space."  Revealing codes will show difference between spaces and hard-spaces. In programming code, a NonBreakingSpace appears as  
Avec les espaces insécables, vous garderez « avec les mots » la ponctuation souhaitée !

Le point médian (interpunct, or middot). For non-gendered French, masculin-feminin options are separated by an interpunct. Ainsi, on peut s'adresser à tou·te·s les étudiant·e·s sans exclure qui que ce soit… For the middot: Shift+Option+9 on Macintosh computers; see options under comma on Android devices, ALT+250 (or ALT+0183 on numeric keypad) for Windows devices. In code: ·

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