How to type accents and other characters in Spanish
Accents and International Characters in WORD
Written accents and other markings not used in English (ñ, the up-side-down exclamation point - ¡, and the up-side-down question mark - ¿) are part of written Spanish and should be included in your typed compositions and other written work. You can write in these accents and marks by hand after your document is printed, or, better yet, you can include these marks in the document itself. Instructions for adding accents and other important marks for the two major types of word processing programs are included here:
International Characters in WORD
The best way to use the international Spanish characters in your composition assignments is to select the Spanish language keyboard on your computer. To do this, follow these steps:
Each time you want to type using the Spanish keyboard now, you must select it. There should be an icon on the task bar down by the clock. If it says EN, then your English keyboard is selected, if it says ES, then your Spanish keyboard is selected. To switch keyboards, simply click on the icon and a menu will appear with the different keyboard styles. Click on the one you want to use.
To Produce: Press:
á the apostrophe key followed by the letter “a”
é the apostrophe key followed by the letter “e”
í the apostrophe key followed by the letter “i”
ó the apostrophe key followed by the letter “o”
ú the apostrophe key followed by the letter “a”
ü the shift and apostrophe keys at the same time, then “u”
ñ the colon and semicolon key
¡ the += key
¿ the shift key and the += key at the same time
If you have difficulty with this, here is another option:
To get: Hold down the “Alt” key and then press the following numbers on the number pad on the right hand side of the keyboard:
á 160
é 130
í 161
ó 162
ú 163
ü 129
ñ 164
¡ 173
¿ 168
If, for some reason, the proper characters do not appear, they are available by using the Insert Symbol command under the Insert menu on the Word tool bar.
FOR MAC USERS
To produce the ´ mark over the letters in Spanish, just push the "option" key and the "e" key at the same time, then release them.
Then, just push the letter you wanted accented and it will appear.
To produce the ñ - just push the "option" key and the "n" key at the same time, then release them. Then, push the letter "n" key.
To produce the ü - just push the "option" key and the "u" key at the same time, then release them. Then, push the letter "u" key.
To produce the ¿ - just push the "option" key, the "shift" key, and the "?" key all at the same time.
To produce the ¡ - just push the "option" key and the "1" key at the same time.
Written accents and other markings not used in English (ñ, the up-side-down exclamation point - ¡, and the up-side-down question mark - ¿) are part of written Spanish and should be included in your typed compositions and other written work. You can write in these accents and marks by hand after your document is printed, or, better yet, you can include these marks in the document itself. Instructions for adding accents and other important marks for the two major types of word processing programs are included here:
International Characters in WORD
The best way to use the international Spanish characters in your composition assignments is to select the Spanish language keyboard on your computer. To do this, follow these steps:
- Click the Start button and then Control Panel
- Then Click on Regional and Language Options
- Select the tab that says Languages
- Now click on the Details button
- Now click on the Add button
- Under the Input Language menu, select Spanish International Sort
- Click on the Apply button
- You’re done
Each time you want to type using the Spanish keyboard now, you must select it. There should be an icon on the task bar down by the clock. If it says EN, then your English keyboard is selected, if it says ES, then your Spanish keyboard is selected. To switch keyboards, simply click on the icon and a menu will appear with the different keyboard styles. Click on the one you want to use.
To Produce: Press:
á the apostrophe key followed by the letter “a”
é the apostrophe key followed by the letter “e”
í the apostrophe key followed by the letter “i”
ó the apostrophe key followed by the letter “o”
ú the apostrophe key followed by the letter “a”
ü the shift and apostrophe keys at the same time, then “u”
ñ the colon and semicolon key
¡ the += key
¿ the shift key and the += key at the same time
If you have difficulty with this, here is another option:
To get: Hold down the “Alt” key and then press the following numbers on the number pad on the right hand side of the keyboard:
á 160
é 130
í 161
ó 162
ú 163
ü 129
ñ 164
¡ 173
¿ 168
If, for some reason, the proper characters do not appear, they are available by using the Insert Symbol command under the Insert menu on the Word tool bar.
FOR MAC USERS
To produce the ´ mark over the letters in Spanish, just push the "option" key and the "e" key at the same time, then release them.
Then, just push the letter you wanted accented and it will appear.
To produce the ñ - just push the "option" key and the "n" key at the same time, then release them. Then, push the letter "n" key.
To produce the ü - just push the "option" key and the "u" key at the same time, then release them. Then, push the letter "u" key.
To produce the ¿ - just push the "option" key, the "shift" key, and the "?" key all at the same time.
To produce the ¡ - just push the "option" key and the "1" key at the same time.