Whether it's just for your general culture, or as part of your work, it is always necessary to know how to put an accent on a capital letter. Besides, it is not difficult to do so. In this article, we explain to you why it is necessary to put an accent on a capital letter as one does with a lower case letter. Then, we give you the tips for doing it on a keyboard.
Why should a capital letter be accented?
Before, we were taught not to put an accent on a capital letter. However, following the generalization of computer and digital writing, the accentuation of capital letters is now recommended.
The French Academy itself affirms with formality that the accent has full orthographic value for the French language, because its absence generates a slowing down of reading, a hesitation on the pronunciation, and can even mislead the reader. So if you forget it, you're making a spelling mistake.
Accenting a capital letter on a keyboard: how does it work?
Using keyboard shortcuts to accent a capital letter is handy if your computer doesn't have a numeric keypad. This method consists of successively using two keyboard shortcuts. The first combination allows you to have the desired accent, while the second allows you to have the capital letter, as follows:
- For an accented capital letter a (À): Ctrl+Alt+7, then Shift+A;
- For a capital letter e with an acute accent (É): Ctrl+4, then Shift+E;
- For a capital letter e with a grave accent (È): Ctrl+Alt+7, then Shift+E;
- For a capital letter c with cedilla (Ç): Ctrl+, then Shift+C
There are also codes to combine with "Alt" to get accented capitals. Discover them in the following summary table:
| ACCENTS | Grave accents | Acute accents | Circumflex accents | Umlauts | Cedilla |
| CODES | To = Alt+0192
È = Alt+0200 Ì = Alt+0204 Ò = Alt+0210 Ù = Alt+0217 |
Á = Alt+0193
S = Alt+0201 Н = Alt+0205 Ó = Alt+0211 Ú = Alt+0218 Ý = Alt+0221 |
 = Alt+0194
ت = Alt+0202 Î = Alt+0206 Ô = Alt+0212 Û = Alt+0219 |
Ä = Alt+0196
Ë = Alt+0203 Ï = Alt+0207 Ö = Alt+0214 Ü = Alt+0220 Ÿ = Alt+0159 |
Ç = Alt+0199 |
Here are 3 other points you should take note of:
- For grave accents, you can proceed with another combination by successively pressing Alt Gr + 7 ` e, then on the vowel to be capitalized with accent. Before handling, make sure that the shift key on your keyboard is engaged.
- For circumflex accents, you must also engage the shift key on your keyboard. Then, you just have to press successively on the other capital key of your keyboard, then on the key on which there is the circumflex accent (with the umlaut), and finally on the vowel to be capitalized with a circumflex accent.
- Finally, for the umlaut, press the capitals key, then successively press the key on which there is the umlaut (with the circumflex accent), then the vowel of your choice.
Here, you have all the keys in hand to put an accent on a capital letter.
