← HTML tutorial

HTML

Text Formatting

A handful of inline tags change how text is presented, and each one carries real meaning beyond its default appearance.

Example 1: strong vs. em

<p>This word is <strong>critically important</strong>.</p>
<p>This word needs <em>emphasis</em> when read aloud.</p>

<strong> makes text bold and signals it's genuinely important; <em> italicizes text for emphasis. Browsers render them as bold/italic by default, but their real job is meaning, not appearance, a screen reader actually changes tone of voice for them. If you just want text to look bold with no real emphasis intended (a stylistic choice, not meaning), that's a job for CSS's font-weight property instead.

Example 2: line breaks and dividers

<p>123 Main Street<br>Lagos, Nigeria</p>
<hr>
<p>Text after the divider.</p>

<br> forces a line break within the same paragraph, useful for something like an address, where lines are related but not separate ideas. <hr> draws a horizontal divider line, typically used to mark a thematic break between sections of content.

Try it yourself
Ready to go further?

These free tutorials are a preview, our Frontend Development cohort covers it in depth, with a real project and a cohort alongside you. Closes Nov 30

Enroll in Frontend Development

Cookie preferences

Choose what you're comfortable with. You can change this any time from the footer.

Don't miss out

Ready to build something real?

Create a free account to enroll in a track, and get notified the moment a cohort opens.

Create free account