5.7. Phrase Markup

Phrases may be marked up according to idiomatic usage, typographic appearance, or for use as hyperlink anchors.

User agents must render highlighted phrases distinctly from plain text. Additionally, <EM> content must be rendered as distinct from <STRONG> content, and <B> content must rendered as distinct from <I> content.

Phrase elements may be nested within the content of other phrase elements; however, HTML user agents may render nested phrase elements indistinctly from non-nested elements:

   plain <B>bold <I>italic</I></B> may be rendered
   the same as plain <B>bold </B><I>italic</I>

• 5.7.1. Idiomatic Elements
  • 5.7.1.1. Citation: CITE
  • 5.7.1.2. Code: CODE
  • 5.7.1.3. Emphasis: EM
  • 5.7.1.4. Keyboard: KBD
  • 5.7.1.5. Sample: SAMP
  • 5.7.1.6. Strong Emphasis: STRONG
  • 5.7.1.7. Variable: VAR
• 5.7.2. Typographic Elements
  • 5.7.2.1. Bold: B
  • 5.7.2.2. Italic: I
  • 5.7.2.3. Teletype: TT
• 5.7.3. Anchor: A