How to Type French Accents
The French language uses three diacritical marks, or accent marks: the acute (´), the grave (`) and the circumflex (ˆ). Diacritical marks, placed over vowels, affect the way you pronounce the marked letter. However, these marks do not appear on many keyboards, making it difficult to type French words correctly. Read this article to learn how to type French accents.
First: Macintosh instructions
If you have a Macintosh computer, produce accents by typing the accent character followed by the accented vowel. On US English keyboards, type the accent marks by holding the Option key and pressing another key. Access the acute typing Option-e, the grave by typing Option-~, and the circumflex by Option-i. For example, to type the accented character in the French word "hôtel," press Option-i, release Option, and press the "o" key.
Second: Windows instructions
The method of typing accented characters under Windows varies from Windows XP through Windows 7; some applications use their own methods. You can type these characters by either using a keyboard layout, such as US-International English, which provides access to them; or to use alt-character codes. If you use the US-International English keyboard layout, simply type the accent key followed by the accented vowel. For example, to type the accented character in the French word "hôtel," type "^" followed by the "o" key. Use the apostrophe for an acute accent. For another method, enter the alt-character code by holding the ALT key and entering the four-digit code for the letter you need on the numeric keypad. Use the Character Map program (in System Tools) to find the four-digit code for each letter.
Third: Microsoft Word instructions
Microsoft Word on Windows provides its own method of entering accent marks. Simply hold the CTRL key and type the accent mark, followed by the accented character. To type the accented character in the French word "hôtel," press CTRL+^, then type the "o" key.