FontsFrench Accents
The five accents of French, plus its two ligatures. Tap a letter to copy it.
- 32 letters and marks
- Alt codes and shortcuts
- Free
Acute: é
The acute accent only goes on e.
Grave: à è ù
Circumflex: â ê î ô û
Tréma: ë ï ü ÿ
French calls the umlaut a tréma.
Cedilla: ç
Ligatures: æ œ
Codes for every letter
Alt codes from the Windows-1252 and code page 437 tables; Outlook shortcuts from Microsoft's list for international characters.
| Letter | Unicode name | Accent | Windows Alt code | Outlook | HTML | Code point |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| é | LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH ACUTE | acute | Alt+0233 or Alt+130 | Ctrl+', then e | é | U+00E9 |
| à | LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH GRAVE | grave | Alt+0224 or Alt+133 | Ctrl+`, then a | à | U+00E0 |
| è | LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH GRAVE | grave | Alt+0232 or Alt+138 | Ctrl+`, then e | è | U+00E8 |
| ù | LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH GRAVE | grave | Alt+0249 or Alt+151 | Ctrl+`, then u | ù | U+00F9 |
| â | LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH CIRCUMFLEX | circumflex | Alt+0226 or Alt+131 | Ctrl+Shift+^, then a | â | U+00E2 |
| ê | LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH CIRCUMFLEX | circumflex | Alt+0234 or Alt+136 | Ctrl+Shift+^, then e | ê | U+00EA |
| î | LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH CIRCUMFLEX | circumflex | Alt+0238 or Alt+140 | Ctrl+Shift+^, then i | î | U+00EE |
| ô | LATIN SMALL LETTER O WITH CIRCUMFLEX | circumflex | Alt+0244 or Alt+147 | Ctrl+Shift+^, then o | ô | U+00F4 |
| û | LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH CIRCUMFLEX | circumflex | Alt+0251 or Alt+150 | Ctrl+Shift+^, then u | û | U+00FB |
| ë | LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH DIAERESIS | umlaut | Alt+0235 or Alt+137 | Ctrl+Shift+:, then e | ë | U+00EB |
| ï | LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH DIAERESIS | umlaut | Alt+0239 or Alt+139 | Ctrl+Shift+:, then i | ï | U+00EF |
| ü | LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH DIAERESIS | umlaut | Alt+0252 or Alt+129 | Ctrl+Shift+:, then u | ü | U+00FC |
| ÿ | LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH DIAERESIS | umlaut | Alt+0255 or Alt+152 | Ctrl+Shift+:, then y | ÿ | U+00FF |
| ç | LATIN SMALL LETTER C WITH CEDILLA | cedilla | Alt+0231 or Alt+135 | Ctrl+,, then c | ç | U+00E7 |
| æ | LATIN SMALL LETTER AE | — | Alt+0230 or Alt+145 | — | æ | U+00E6 |
| œ | LATIN SMALL LIGATURE OE | — | Alt+0156 | — | œ | U+0153 |
What each accent does
- Acute (é): only on e.
- Grave (à è ù): on a and u it mostly tells apart words that sound the same; ù appears in a single word, où.
- Circumflex (â ê î ô û): on i and u it doesn't change the sound.
- Tréma (ë ï ü ÿ): shows that the vowel is pronounced separately from the one before it; ÿ is found only in proper nouns.
- Cedilla (ç): makes c sound like s instead of k.
- The ligatures æ and œ are also part of French spelling.
How to type French accents
- Windows: hold Alt and type the code on the numeric keypad: é 0233, è 0232, ê 0234, ë 0235. The table below has every code.
- Mac: press and hold the letter and the accent menu shows the accented letters; click one or press the number shown under it. Accent menus aren't available in every app.
- iPhone: touch and hold the letter, then slide to the accented letter you want.
- Android (Gboard): touch and hold the letter to see the accents.
- Outlook: Ctrl+', then e for é; Ctrl+`, then e for è; Ctrl+Shift+^, then e for ê; Ctrl+Shift+:, then e for ë.
- Microsoft Office: type the code (
00E9for é) and press Alt + X. PowerPoint doesn't convert codes this way. - HTML:
éfor é,èfor è,êfor ê,ëfor ë.
- ç: Alt 0231 on Windows; in Outlook, Ctrl+,, then c.
- œ and æ: Alt 0156 and Alt 0230.
Frequently asked questions
How do I type ç?
Alt+0231 on Windows; in Outlook, Ctrl+,, then c; on a phone, touch and hold c.
How many accents does French have?
Five: the acute, the grave, the circumflex, the tréma (diaeresis) and the cedilla.
What is the Alt code for é?
Alt+0233 (or Alt+130).