How do I type an acute accent?

Acute accents – or, if you’re being picky, diacritical marks – are a huge part of most Latin-based languages (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and, of course, French). In fact, such is their influence that they’re even widely used in English – as anyone who has quaffed an apéritif, cried touché, made a papier-mâché sculpture or got caught in a Tube mêlée will attest.

However, typing the little blighters can be a pain if you don’t have a Francophone keyboard lying around. Luckily, we’ve put together a handy list of shortcuts to give your communiqué a pinch of élan (okay, I’ll stop now).

Important note: an accent acute refers solely to a line going up to the right (for example, á), while a grave accent (è, Alt+0232) goes the other way. Of course, you all remember that from GCSE/O level French, though…

How to type an acute accent: Windows PC

To broaden the scope of your British keyboard, you’ll have to remember a selection of keyboard shortcuts. To begin, switch on Num Lock and hold down the Alt key as you tap one of the following codes into your number pad…

é = Alt+0233

á = Alt+0225

í = Alt+0237

ó = Alt+0243

ú = Alt+0250

ý = Alt+0253

And here are the capitalised versions:

É = Alt+0201

Á = Alt+0193

Í = Alt+0205

Ó = Alt+0211

Ú = Alt+0218

Ý = Alt+0221

If your keyboard doesn’t have a number pad, the process is rather more laborious: go to Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Character Map (or type “character map” into the search box) and copy the relevant accent.

How to type an acute accent: Mac

Mac users, prepare to feel smug: typing accent acutes on Apple devices is as easy as the proverbial gateaux. Simply hold down a key to bring up a list of possible variations.

Voilà!

How to type an acute accent: Android and iOS

As above, typing an acute accent into your smartphone is enfant’s play: just hold down one of the keys on the virtual keyboard to bring up a wide range of options.