How to Do French Accent Marks on the Computer

Computers sold in the U.S. come with a keyboard designed with the letters, numbers and quotation marks common to American English speakers. However, this hardware presents problems if you frequently type text in a foreign language, such as French, whose language-specific accent marks do not appear on the individual keys. The Windows and Macintosh operating systems provide the answer through the use of key combinations.

Instructions

Windows

1. Press the "Control" and ' (apostrophe) and vowel keys to type an acute accent, such as in the word "espérer" or "l'été."

2. Press the "Control," ` (grave accent) and vowel keys to type a grave accent, as in the words "où" or "frère." The grave accent is the first key on the top row, to the left of the "1" key.

3. Press the "Control," ^ (caret) and vowel keys to type a circumflex accent, as in the words "hôtel" or "sûr." The caret is teh "Shift" option of the "6" key.

4. Press the "Control," comma and C keys to type a cedilla, as in the words "ça" or "façade."

5. Press the "Control," : (colon) and vowel keys to type a diaresis accent, as in the word "naïf" or "Saint-Saëns."

6. Press the "Control," & (ampersand) and O keys to type a "œ" as in "sœur" or "hors d'œuvre." The ampersand is the "Shift" option of the "7" key.

Macintosh

1. Press the "Option," ' (apostrophe) and vowel keys to type an acute accent, such as in the word "espérer" or "l'été."

2. Press the "Option," ` (grave accent) and vowel keys to type a grave accent, as in the words "où" or "frère." The grave accent is the first key on the top row, to the left of the "1" key.

3. Press the "Option," ^ (caret) and vowel keys to type a circumflex accent, as in the words "hôtel" or "sûr." The caret is the "Shift" option of the "6" key.

4. Press the "Option" and C keys to type a cedilla, as in the words "ça" or "façade."

5. Press the "Option," U and vowel keys to type a diaresis (trema) accent, as in the word "naïf" or "Saint-Saëns."

6. Press the "Option" and Q keys to type a "œ" as in "sœur" or "hors d'œuvre."

References

• Keyboard Help: Typing International Accent Marks
• Typing French Accent Marks in Mac