Accent Letters: Full List, Symbols & Copy/Paste

Accent letters full guide: acute, grave, circumflex, umlaut, tilde and cedilla marks on lowercase and uppercase letters

By Maximilian Schmidt (Linguistic Expert) Full Accent Letters Guide • 11 min read • Updated: July 20, 2026

This guide covers the full list of accent letters, the different types of accent marks (acute, grave, circumflex, umlaut, tilde, cedilla, and more), what each one means, and how to type or copy and paste them instantly, no special keyboard required.

Note: Click on the accent letters to copy it to the clipboard.

A with accent

The accented letter 'a' has 33 lowercase and 33 uppercase variations. Our full guide to the a with accent also contains more in-depth information, including Windows and Mac Alt codes, keyboard shortcuts, and more.

Lowercase a accent

Capital A accent

B with accent

The accented letter 'b' has 6 lowercase and 6 uppercase variations. Our guide to the accented b also covers additional details, including Windows and Mac Alt codes, keyboard shortcuts, and more.

Lowercase b accent

Capital B accent

C with accent

The accented c has 8 lowercase and 8 uppercase variations. Click on the link to learn more about c with accent.

Lowercase c accent

Capital C accent

D with accent

Lowercase d accent

Capital D accent

E with accent

Lowercase e accent

Capital E accent

F with accent

Lowercase f accent

Capital F accent

G with accent

Lowercase g accent

Capital G accent

H with accent

Lowercase h accent

Capital H accent

I with accent

Lowercase i accent

Capital I accent

J with accent

Lowercase j accent

Capital J accent

K with accent

Lowercase k accent

Capital K accent

L with accent

Lowercase l accent

Capital L accent

M with accent

Lowercase m accent

Capital M accent

N with accent

Lowercase n accent

Capital N accent

O with accent

Lowercase o accent

Capital O accent

P with accent

Lowercase p accent

Capital P accent

Q with accent

Lowercase q accent

Capital Q accent

R with accent

Lowercase r accent

Capital R accent

S with accent

Lowercase s accent

Capital S accent

T with accent

Lowercase t accent

Capital T accent

U with accent

Lowercase u accent

Capital U accent

V with accent

Lowercase v accent

Capital V accent

W with accent

Lowercase w accent

Capital W accent

X with accent

Lowercase x accent

Capital X accent

Y with accent

Lowercase y accent

Capital Y accent

Z with accent

Lowercase z accent

Capital Z accent

Types of Accent Marks (or diacritics)

Accent marks (also called diacritics or diacritical marks) are small symbols added above, below, or through a letter to change its pronunciation, stress, or meaning. Below are the main types of accent marks used across languages, with examples, how each one affects pronunciation, and other useful details.

Accent Mark	Example	Purpose	Common Languages
Acute	á	Marks stress or a changed vowel sound	Spanish, French, Portuguese
Grave	à	Marks stress or distinguishes words	French, Italian
Circumflex	â	Lengthens a vowel or marks a dropped letter	French, Portuguese, Romanian
Umlaut / Diaeresis	ü	Changes a vowel or separates two vowels	German, French, Turkish
Tilde	ñ	Adds a nasal sound	Spanish, Portuguese
Cedilla	ç	Softens a hard consonant	French, Portuguese, Turkish
Ring Above	å	Alters the vowel sound	Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Caron / Háček	č	Gives a soft, “sh”-like sound	Czech, Slovak, Croatian
Macron	ā	Marks a long vowel	Japanese romaji, Latin, Maori
Breve	ă	Marks a short vowel	Romanian, Vietnamese, Latin
Ogonek	ą	Nasalizes the vowel	Polish, Lithuanian

Acute Accent ( ´ )

The acute accent is a small line slanting upward from left to right, placed above a letter. It usually indicates stress or a change in vowel sound.

How it sounds: In Spanish, it simply tells you which syllable to stress. It doesn't change the vowel's sound, so the word “sábado” is stressed on the first syllable. In French, it changes the vowel quality itself, so é sounds like “ay” while an unaccented e can sound like “uh.”

Used in: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian

Good to know: This is the most common accent mark in the world's languages, and it's the one most people mean when they say “accent mark” in general.

Grave Accent ( ` )

The grave accent slants downward from left to right, the mirror image of the acute accent. It can affect pronunciation or distinguish words that would otherwise be spelled the same.

How it sounds: In French, è makes an “eh” sound (open), different from é's “ay” sound (closed). In Italian, it usually just marks stress rather than changing the sound.

Used in: French, Italian, Portuguese, Vietnamese

Good to know: In French, the grave accent is often the only thing distinguishing two otherwise identical words. “a” (has) vs. “à” (to/at), or “ou” (or) vs. “où” (where).

Circumflex ( ˆ )

The circumflex looks like a small triangle or hat above a letter. It often marks a lengthened vowel sound or signals a historical dropped letter.

How it sounds: It typically lengthens or slightly deepens the vowel sound, so â is a longer, more open “ah” than plain a in French.

Used in: French, Portuguese, Romanian, Vietnamese

Good to know: In French, the circumflex often marks a letter, usually an “s,” that existed in Old French and was later dropped from spelling. That's why “forêt” (forest) and “hôpital” (hospital) resemble their English cousins “forest” and “hospital.”

Umlaut / Diaeresis ( ¨ )

Two dots placed above a letter. As an umlaut, it changes the vowel sound itself, which is common in German. As a diaeresis, it shows that two adjacent vowels are pronounced separately rather than blended into one sound, which is common in English and French words like “naïve.”

How it sounds: In German, the umlaut shifts the vowel forward in the mouth, so ü sounds roughly like the French “u” or a tightly-rounded “ee,” and ö sounds similar to the vowel in the English “bird.” As a diaeresis, the dots don't change the vowel's own sound; they just prevent it from merging with the vowel next to it, so “naïve” is pronounced “nah-EEV,” not “nave.”

Used in: German, Turkish, Hungarian, French, Spanish (ü in “pingüino”)

Good to know: Umlaut and diaeresis look identical but function differently. One changes a vowel's sound, the other separates two vowels. Some fonts and keyboards treat them as the same character even though linguists consider them distinct marks.

Tilde ( ~ )

A wavy line placed above a letter, most often used to indicate a nasal sound or to represent an entirely distinct letter with its own pronunciation.

How it sounds: Spanish ñ sounds like “ny,” similar to the “ny” in “canyon,” so “año” sounds like “AH-nyo,” not “AH-no.” In Portuguese, the tilde nasalizes the vowel, pushing air through the nose as you say it, so ã sounds roughly like “ah” said through the nose.

Used in: Spanish, Portuguese

Good to know: In Spanish, ñ isn't treated as “n with an accent.” It's its own letter of the alphabet, distinct from n, and swapping them changes the word's meaning entirely, since “año” means year, while “ano” means anus.

Cedilla ( ¸ )

A small hook or tail placed underneath a letter, most commonly under “c,” to soften its pronunciation.

How it sounds: It softens a hard “k” sound into a soft “s” sound. In French, “garçon” is pronounced with an “s” sound, not a “k” sound, because of the cedilla.

Used in: French, Portuguese, Turkish

Good to know: The cedilla only appears before the vowels a, o, and u. Before e and i, “c” already makes a soft sound on its own in French, so no cedilla is needed.

Ring Above ( ˚ )

A small circle placed above a letter, most commonly above “a,” used to alter the vowel sound.

How it sounds: å sounds similar to the “aw” in “saw” or “law,” quite different from a plain “a.”

Used in: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish

Good to know: å is treated as its own letter and placed at the very end of the alphabet in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish. It is not sorted together with “a.”

Caron / Háček ( ˇ )

A small “v”-shaped mark placed above a letter, giving certain consonants a “soft” or “sh”-like sound.

How it sounds: č sounds like “ch” in “church,” š sounds like “sh” in “shoe,” and ž sounds like the “s” in “measure.”

Used in: Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Slovenian

Good to know: The caron is sometimes called a “háček” (Czech for “little hook”), and it's why some Slavic surnames look unfamiliar to English speakers. It replaces what would otherwise take two or three letters to spell in English, such as “sh,” “ch,” and “zh.”

Macron ( ¯ )

A straight horizontal line placed above a letter, indicating a long vowel sound.

How it sounds: It simply means “hold this vowel longer” than you would a plain vowel. It doesn't change the vowel's basic quality, just its duration.

Used in: Japanese romanization (romaji), Latin, Maori, Hawaiian

Good to know: In Japanese, vowel length can completely change a word's meaning, so the macron matters a lot in romanized spelling, and “tōkyō” (Tokyo) has two long vowels that are easy to miss without it.

Breve ( ˘ )

A curved mark resembling a small smile, placed above a letter to indicate a short vowel sound. It is the opposite of the macron.

How it sounds: It signals a short, quick vowel sound rather than a drawn-out one.

Used in: Romanian, Vietnamese, Latin phonetic transcription

Good to know: The breve and macron are essentially opposites, and both are common in dictionaries and phonetic guides to show English speakers how to pronounce a word's vowels, even outside of any specific foreign language.

Ogonek ( ˛ )

A small hook or tail placed beneath a vowel, indicating nasalization.

How it sounds: Like the Portuguese tilde, it nasalizes the vowel, pushing air through the nose while pronouncing it, giving a sound with no direct English equivalent.

Used in: Polish, Lithuanian

Good to know: “Ogonek” is Polish for “little tail,” a fitting description of how the mark looks under the letter.

How to Write / Type Accent Letters?

Accent letters can be typed on any device using built-in shortcuts, no extra software needed. The exact method depends on your platform. Here's how to do it on each one, plus a few popular examples and a generic method that works everywhere.

Windows (alt code)

Typing accent letters in Windows using Alt codes on the numeric keypad, for example Alt + 0233 to type é

Hold Alt and type a numeric code on the keypad, then release Alt (e.g. Alt + 0233 = é)
Make sure Num Lock is on and use the numeric keypad, not the number row above the letters
No keypad? Enable the hidden keypad with Fn + NumLock, or use a USB numeric keypad
Open Character Map from the Start menu to find and copy any accented letter
Use the On-Screen Keyboard (Start menu search) and switch to an international layout to click accents directly

Letter	Shortcut
é	Alt + 0233
è	Alt + 0232
ñ	Alt + 0241
ü	Alt + 0252
ç	Alt + 0231
â	Alt + 0226

Mac

Typing accent letters on a Mac using the Option key, for example Option + E then E to type é

Hold Option (⌥) plus a key, release, then type the letter (e.g. Option + E, then E = é)
Option + E = acute (´), Option + ` = grave, Option + I = circumflex (ˆ), Option + U = umlaut (¨), Option + N = tilde (~)
Press and hold a letter key (like “e”) to open a popup with accented variations, then click or press the number shown
Open Character Viewer with Control + Command + Spacebar, search the letter, and double-click to insert it

Letter	Shortcut
é	Option + E, then E
è	Option + `, then E
ñ	Option + N, then N
ü	Option + U, then U
â	Option + I, then A
ã	Option + N, then A

iPhone / iPad

Typing accent letters on iPhone or iPad by pressing and holding a letter key to choose an accented variation

Press and hold any letter key on the keyboard to see its accented variations
Slide your finger to the accent you want, then release to insert it
Works the same way in any app, no settings changes required

Android

Press and hold a letter key to bring up a popup of accented options
Slide to the accented letter and lift your finger to select it
Exact behavior can vary slightly by keyboard app (Gboard, Samsung Keyboard, etc.), but press-and-hold works on nearly all of them

Google Docs

Go to Insert > Special characters
Search the letter by name (e.g. “e acute”) or draw it in the handwriting box
Click the character to insert it directly into your document
Alternatively, use your operating system's shortcut (Alt codes on Windows, Option key on Mac) directly inside Docs

Microsoft Word

Go to Insert > Symbol > More Symbols and select the accented letter
Or use Word's built-in shortcuts, such as Ctrl + ' then a vowel for an acute accent (e.g. Ctrl + ' then e = é)
Ctrl + ` then a vowel = grave accent, Ctrl + Shift + ^ then a vowel = circumflex, Ctrl + Shift + : then a vowel = umlaut, Ctrl + Shift + ~ then n or a vowel = tilde
Windows Alt codes and Mac Option-key shortcuts also work directly in Word

Word also has its own built-in keyboard shortcuts that work regardless of whether you're on Windows or Mac. These use dead-key combinations, so the accent mark and the letter are pressed as two separate steps.

Accent Type	Popular Examples	Word Shortcut
Acute Accent ( ´ )	á, é, í, ó, ú	Ctrl + ' (apostrophe), then the letter
Grave Accent ( ` )	à, è, ì, ò, ù	Ctrl + ` (grave), then the letter
Circumflex ( ˆ )	â, ê, î, ô, û	Ctrl + Shift + ^ (caret), then the letter
Umlaut / Diaeresis ( ¨ )	ä, ë, ï, ö, ü	Ctrl + Shift + : (colon), then the letter
Tilde ( ~ )	ã, ñ, õ	Ctrl + Shift + ~ (tilde), then the letter
Cedilla ( ¸ )	ç, Ç	Ctrl + , (comma), then c or C
Ring Above ( ˚ )	å, Å, ů	Ctrl + Shift + @ (at sign), then a or A
Caron / Háček ( ˇ )	č, š, ž, ě, ř	Type 010D, 0161, 017E, 011B, or 0159, then Alt + X
Macron ( ¯ )	ā, ē, ī, ō, ū	Type 0101, 0113, 012B, 014D, or 016B, then Alt + X
Breve ( ˘ )	ă, ĕ, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ	Type 0103, 0115, 012D, 014F, or 016D, then Alt + X
Ogonek ( ˛ )	ą, ę, į, ų	Type 0105, 0119, 012F, or 0173, then Alt + X

How to use these: For the first seven rows, press the key combination shown, release it, then type the base letter. Word treats these as dead keys, so nothing appears until you type the letter that follows (e.g. Ctrl + ' then e produces é). Caron, macron, breve, and ogonek don't have dedicated dead-key shortcuts in Word, so they use the Unicode method instead: type the 4-digit code, then press Alt + X to convert it into the accented letter.