I have a windows, how do I place accent marks? (e.g. for Spanish)

Thanks

Thank you for using the Jiskha Homework Help Forum. Hopefully this will "cut and paste" here:

How To Type Accented Characters on a PC

US-International Keyboard uses the ', `, ~, ^, " as dead keys (highlighted in blue below), and uses Right-ALT plus !, ?, and a number of other keys to produce characters not normally available. The accents are intuitive. Tap the accent dead key, then tap the vowel for which you want the accent. The ' dead key also works for the cedilla. ' + e = é
` + e = è
~ + n = ñ ^ + e = ê
" + e = ë
' + c = ç

US-International Keyboard method:
1. Go to Control Panel / Keyboard / Language
2. Choose English-United States-International
(through PROPERTIES, not "Add") With that option, the keyboard operation is slightly modified but the keyboard does not change for every language (it is useful for German, Spanish, French and Portuguese, among other European languages, including English, of course) and it does not interfere with the regular use of the actual, physical keyboard that you see. when you type the ~ character (left-hand corner of keyboard), nothing shows until you type another key. So, if you type ~ and then the letter n, you get a nice n+tilde output. If you type ~ and then any vowel, you get that vowel with the tilde on top of it (which is used in Portuguese to represent nasal vowels). If you type ~ and then the space bar, you get the ~ character(for example to produce a sting like ~eyepes). If you type ~ and then any other consonant, you get ~ followed by that consonant: ~p, for example. when you type the ' character (center right-hand key of keyboard), nothing appears until you type another key. Again, if you type any vowel immediately after typing ' , you get that vowel with an acute accent (the one used in Spanish and in some French words). If you type the space bar or any other key, you get the usual simple quotation mark followed by the consonant or key that was hit afterwards. For example: 'f , or 'g , and so on. same rules apply for the ` , ^ and " characters: they don't show until you type another key--they will be combined with vowels and followed by consonants.

The Windows Character Map, usually found in the Windows 95 (Office 97) Accessories Program Group, provides a combination of keystrokes needed for foreign language applications. Instructions: Go to START, click on FIND and type CHARMAP. Find the character map in Windows, select the font "Times Roman," and use the numeric key pad on the right side of the keyboard to create special characters. The system will occasionally fail if a particular combination of keystrokes has been reserved by another application.
Depress the ALT key and hold it down while typing in the three-digit number. To type the numbers, use the numeric keypad, not the number keys on the top row. 128 Ç
129 ü
130 é
131 â
132 ä
133 à
135 ç
136 ê
137 ë
138 è
139 ï


140 î
141 ì
142 Ä
143 Å
144 É
145 æ
146 Æ
147 ô
148 ö
149 ò
150 û


151 ù
152 ÿ
153 Ö
154 Ü
160 á
161 í
162 ó
163 ú
164 ñ
165 Ñ
168 ¿

PC Variations: Hitting the spacebar or a non-accented letter after a dead key produces the key's normal value, i.e. ', `, ~, ^, or ". Other special characters can be entered by using the Right-Alt key in combination with other keys (esp. useful for ¿, ¡ «, » ß). For Spanish, it might be easier to use the Right-Alt key for accents too: Alt-? = ¿ Alt-! = ¡ Alt-s = ß Alt-n = ñ Alt-N = Ñ Alt-, = ç
Alt-a = á Alt-e = é Alt-i = í Alt-o = ó Alt-u = ú

This two hundred number combination in the Character Map, set to "Times New Roman," is useful within an internet document (e.g., an on-line student response journal) in the latest versions of browers.

ALT + 0224 yields á ALT + 0225 yields à ALT + 0233 yields è ALT + 0232 yields é ALT + 0242 yields ò ALT + 0243 yields ó ALT + 0200 yields É ALT + 0204 yields Á ALT + 0241 yields ñ

Other Windows Options

Here are several options for MS Word. First, in MS Word, go to the Help Menu and search "Diacritic Marks." Second, in MS Word, choose INSERT, SYMBOL, and then select the accented character needed. Third, in newer versions of MS Word
1. Press CTRL and the key that most closely resembles the accent needed.
2. Release the two keys pressed in Step 1.
3. Press the character, and voila--the accented character will appear.
à, è, ì, ò, ù - À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù CTRL+` (ACCENT GRAVE), the letter
á, é, í, ó, ú, Ũ - Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ũ CTRL+' (APOSTROPHE), the letter
â, ê, î, ô, û , Ê, Î, Ô, Û CTRL+^ (CARET), the letter
ã, ñ, õ Ã, Ñ, Õ CTRL+~ (TILDE), the letter
ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, Ù CTRL+: (COLON), the letter
å, Å CTRL+@, a or A
æ, Æ CTRL+&, a or A
Ï, Î CTRL+&, o or O
ç, Ç CTRL+, (COMMA), c or C
Ũ, Ũ CTRL+' (APOSTROPHE), d or D
ø, Ø CTRL+/, o or O
¿ ALT+CTRL+?
¡ ALT+CTRL+!
ß CTRL+&, s

Other bits of Information


In Microsoft Office 98 for the MAC, the Value Pack (on the CD-Rom) contains the Proofing Tools--spellcheckers and thesarus for different languages. The tools are language specific and should be set by the user. ALKI provides the foreign language Proofing Tools for Microsoft Office 98.
Microsoft fonts for the Asian languages exist on the Office 97CD--in the ValuePack folder, open the Far East folder and install Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
Microsoft has released a free spellchecker, in German for Word 6.0 or MS-Office 97. This is an add-on feature in which unrecognized words are underlined in Word97 but no suggested alternatives are offered and there is no grammar checker. The link to download it is available at this web page: www.german-usa.com/info/index.html.
WordPerfect since at least version 4.2 has allowed remapping of the keyboard (for DOS and Windows versions at least). The most current versions allow you to have different keyboard maps and switch at random (Edit> Preferences> Keyboard> Create). Unfortunately the keyboards you map only work inside the WordPerfect application.
Windows95 also has a selection of keyboard layouts that work for all windows applications. To try them, look under "Keyboard" in the ("Start" > "Settings">) "Control panel." For example go to "Keyboard," choose the "Language" tab, hit the "Properties" button and then choose the "UnitedStates-International" from the drop-down menu of keyboard layout choices. You can assign layouts of your choice to languages of your choice. If you have a list of two or more language/layouts listed on the "Language" tab page, the current choice will show on the right side of the task bar and you can click on it to switch between your other selections. To see how the current keyboard is mapped, open the (Start> Programs> Accessories>) "Character Map," choose the font you are working with, and click on the character you wish to type. The keystroke combination for the current layout will show up on the bottom line of the "Character Map" window.
WordPerfect keyboard maps override the Windows layouts wherever there is a conflict. But you can use the two in combination to create many very useful keyboard shortcuts and features.


Now you'll see why many students enter the accent marks by hand!

Sra (aka Mme)

I do not enter the accent marks by hand and I am a student! What do you mean exactly mean by many?

To place accent marks on Windows, you have a few options depending on your keyboard layout and preferences. Here are two methods you can try:

Method 1: Using the Alt key
1. Ensure that Num Lock is turned on.
2. Press and hold the Alt key on your keyboard.
3. While still holding the Alt key, enter a specific numeric code using the numeric keypad (not the number keys above the letters).
For example:
- á: Hold Alt, type 0225, and then release Alt.
- é: Hold Alt, type 0233, and then release Alt.
- í: Hold Alt, type 0237, and then release Alt.
- ó: Hold Alt, type 0243, and then release Alt.
- ú: Hold Alt, type 0250, and then release Alt.
- ñ: Hold Alt, type 0241, and then release Alt.
4. The accentuated character should appear.

Method 2: Using the keyboard shortcut
1. Ensure that Num Lock is turned on.
2. Press and hold the right Alt key (Alt Gr) located to the right of the Spacebar.
3. While still holding the right Alt key, press the desired letter key.
For example:
- á: Press right Alt + a.
- é: Press right Alt + e.
- í: Press right Alt + i.
- ó: Press right Alt + o.
- ú: Press right Alt + u.
- ñ: Press right Alt + n.
4. The accented character should appear.

These methods should work on most Windows systems and with various keyboard layouts. If these methods don't work for you, you might need to check your keyboard settings or consult the documentation specific to your computer and keyboard model.

To place accent marks on a Windows computer, you can use a combination of keyboard shortcuts or the character map utility:

1. Keyboard shortcuts:
- For acute accents (é, í, ó, ú): Press and hold the "Alt" key, and on the number pad, enter the corresponding code for the desired accent:
- á: Alt + 0225
- é: Alt + 0233
- í: Alt + 0237
- ó: Alt + 0243
- ú: Alt + 0250
- For tilde accents (ñ): Press and hold the "Alt" key, and on the number pad, enter "0241".
- For other accents (such as ü, ñ, or è), you may need to use specific keyboard layouts or language settings.

2. Character map utility:
- Click on the "Start" menu and search for "Character Map".
- Open the Character Map program.
- Select the desired accent mark from the available characters and click on the "Select" or "Copy" button.
- Paste the accent mark into your document or text field.

Additionally, you can consider changing your keyboard layout to a language that has accent marks built-in, such as the United States-International keyboard layout. This allows you to type various accented characters more easily by using a combination of keys.

To change your keyboard layout:
1. Go to the "Start" menu and open the "Settings" app.
2. Click on "Time & Language" and then select "Language" from the left sidebar.
3. Under "Preferred languages," click on your language and then click on "Options".
4. Under "Keyboards," click on "Add a keyboard" and choose the desired language keyboard layout.
5. Once added, you can switch between different keyboard layouts by clicking on the language abbreviation in the taskbar and selecting the desired layout.

By following these methods, you should now be able to place accent marks on your Windows computer.