That works for windows. But what about those of us with a Mac? I know how to make the accents in Word, but noton the internet. Any help appreciated. Also, how do you make the Euro sign on a Mac?
Some boys at one of our local schools have just won a 'Young Enterprise' competition for producing mouse mats with the codes for French, German and Spanish accents on. What a good idea - I'm going to try to get my hands on one.
Posts: 1400 | Location: London, UK | Registered: 20 September 2006
Panda - I would really like one of these brilliant mats too as I am always messing about with little scraps of paper. Periodically I write in German and now my daughter has got engaged to a Frenchman, I will have to polish up my French! It would be so much easier just to glance at a mat. Do you think you could let me know if you find out how to buy them please?
Linda - I'm not sure how you are making accents in Word, but I use the same method both there and on the 'net and it works for me.
é option-E E — É option-E shift-E (For any acute accent type option-E followed by the vowel you need, e.g. á. Á)
è option-` È — option-` shift-E (Similarly for any accent grave type option-` followed by the vowel you need, e.g. à, À)
ê option-I E — Ê option-I shift-E (Again to put a circumflex over any vowel, use the same option-I process)
ü option-U — Ü option-U shift-U (and similarly for other vowels)
ç option-c — Ç shift-option-C
That pretty much covers the basic French accent marks (diacritics) but the others you need for other languages are equally straightforward. Assuming you are using some version of OSX you can use the "Show Keyboard Viewer" feature to find any you might need.
As for the € symbol, if your keyboard is set to the normal US default, type shift-option-2. Option-3 will give you the £ symbol. If your Mac is set to a British keyboard, option-2 will give you the € symbol, shift-3 will give you the £ symbol.
Posts: 80 | Location: Ohio, USA | Registered: 10 March 2005
For laptops, you need to use the keys that are dual-use ... look at keys mjkluiop789. You should see a number - perhaps in a different color - on each key.
Posts: 16049 | Location: The Beautiful San Francisco Bay Area | Registered: 06 August 2001
For Macs, I'm sure there are keyboard shortcuts, but if you use them infrequently (but DO use them sometimes), there's a very easy way to keep them close at hand.
1. Is there a little flag in your menu bar (upper right hand corner)? If so, you're halfway home! If not, open "System Preferences" and click the "International" icon. Now choose "Input Menu" and click the box next to "Character Palette." Now the little flag should be in your menu bar. It'll just hang out up there until you need it.
2. Close your System Preferences. Click the flag and choose "Show Character Palette."
3. If it's not already highlighted, choose to view "by Category," scroll down to "Accented Latin," and voilà! All the accented characters you can imagine! Just make sure your cursor is where you want it to be in the program you're using, highlight the appropriate character, and click the "insert" button. You can also drag and drop the character you want to use into other programs.
4. For characters you use a lot, consider highlighting the character, clicking the little "gear" in the lower lefthand corner, and choosing "Add to Favorites." That adds the character to the "Favorites" tab there at the top of the pane. That way you don't have to scroll down to "Accented Latin" and hunt for it next time.
I keep the £ € é É í and à characters in my favorites. Hope this helps!
