spanish marks

7/29/2019 Spanish Marks

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Tom Mathews http://weber.edu/tmathews

HOW TO MAKESPANISH ACCENT MARKS ON A

COMPUTER

. For a summary of the rules for when to use an accent mark in Spanish, go here.

Please get in the habit of using the computer to type accent marks and doit as you type. This is much easier than going back over a document andadding the marks afterwards. All word processors are capable of doing properaccent marks in Spanish. Almost all printers are capable of printing them. Ifyou have a printer that will not do it, use one of the Computer Labs on campusto print your compositions.

Below are some instructions that might help. You will only need to do thisprocess once; your word processor will remember how you have set up these

special characters.

The best option is to install a Spanish Keyboard in Windows. This willallow you to use accent marks in ANY program on the computer, including thedesktop, file names, graphics and word processing. The layout on a SpanishKeyboard is different (that is, many symbols are in different places than theyare on the English Keyboard).

To install the Spanish Keyboard on Windows XP, click first on"Start" and then open the "Control Panel."

Once there click on "Regional and Language Options" (If you are inan older version of windows, click on "Keyboard" in the "Control

Panel"). Now select the "Languages" tab at the top of the new window and

then click on "Details." The large white box contains a list of thelanguages and keyboards you have installed.

To add a Spanish keyboard, click on "ADD". There is a long list of Spanish spell-checkers available. Any one will

do, but I suggest "Spanish (International Sort)" which willalphabetize lists the correct (modern) way. The program willautomatically select the "Spanish Variation" keyboard.

Click "OK" to exit the control panel.Now (perhaps after you restart your computer) you will see a small

square near your system tray (the lower right row of icons on the task bar atthe bottom of your screen in Windows). Clicking on this little square (orpressing the Ctrl and Shift keys at the same time) will give you the option oftoggling back and forth between any keyboards you have installed.

NOTA BENE: If you install a non-English keyboard the letters on youractual keyboard (the hardware) will not necessarily indicate what letter isactually typed.

IF YOU INSTALL THE SPANISH KEYBOARD YOU CAN SEE THEKEYBOARD LAYOUT HERE.

Page 1 of 5How to make accent marks on a computer

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To type an accent mark on a Spanish Keyboard, hit the apostrophefollowed by the vowel over which you want the mark. The "" is the colon key;"" is a capital colon. Question marks ("" and "?") are the "+" and "_" symbolsrespectively. The upside down exclamation is the "=" key.

Good luck!

.There is a very cool utility at http://spanish.typeit.org where you can easily type in Spanish

and then cut and paste into your document.This is not a solution for people who need to type regularly in Spanish (there is not other

formatting, no spell checker, etc., but it is a quick solution for people who need a word or twonow and then. Other languages besides Spanish can be found at http://www.typeit.org.

Macintosh Microsoft Word (PC)WordPerfect (PC)

Macintosh (any program)Accented characters are "hard wired" into the Macintosh Operating System. The

following instructions will always work on a Mac in any program or application sincethey always remain part of the system software.

Symbols joined by a + need to be held down at the same time;Symbols separated by a coma need to be hit in sequence, one after the other.

Option + E , A

Option + E , E Option + E , I

Option + E , O

Option + E , U

Option + E , Shift + E

Option + N , N

Option + N , Shift + N

Option + Shift + ?

Option + 1

Option + U , U




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Microsoft Word for Windows

The default keystrokes for accented characters are as follows:Symbols joined by a + need to be held down at the same time;

Symbols separated by a coma need to be hit in sequence, one after the other.

Ctrl + ' , A Ctrl + ' , E

Ctrl + ' , I

Ctrl + ' , O

Ctrl + ' , U

Ctrl + ' , Shift + E

Ctrl + Shift + ~, N Ctrl + Shift + ~, Shift + N

Alt + Ctrl + Shift + ?

Alt + Ctrl + Shift + !

Ctrl + Shift + : , U

If you want to change the defaults and use other keystrokes to accessaccent marks, follow these instructions. You will only need to do this once andthe computer you're working on will remember the keystrokes you've set up.However, if you move to a different machine, you'll probably have to gothrough this set-up process again.

1. Go to the "Insert" menu and choose "Symbol"2. Get "Normal text" and then highlight the character you want3. Click on "Shortcut Key"4. Type in the keystrokes you want for that character

(such as "alt + e" for "")5. Repeat this process for each special character you need

Word Perfect 8.0 for Windows

There are no default settings for international characters inWordPerfect. You must set up your computer to recognize thekeystrokes you want to use (such as "alt + e" for ""). You only needto do this once on any given computer. The software will remember




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what you've taught it.

1. When in WordPerfect, click on "Tools" and select "Settings."2. Now double-click on "Customize."3. Select the "Keyboards" tab.4. Click on the keyboard you want to edit (I suggest "WPWIN 8

keyboard") and click "Edit."5. On the left is a list of all of the possible "shortcut" keystrokes you

can assign to accented characters. Notice that most of them arealready assigned to some function. Don't use these. Select thekeystroke you want to use (see suggestions below) and thenclick on the "Keystrokes" tab.

6. Press Ctrl + W to display a list of all the possible characters.7. Under "Set" select "Multinational."8. Click on the character you want to assign to the keystroke you

already selected in step 5.9. Click on "Insert and Close"

10. Click on "Assign Keystrokes ot Key"11. Repeat this process from step 5 trough 10 until you've assigned

all of the Spanish characters.12. Click OK.

NOTA BENE: the upside down exclamation and interrogative areunder the "Typographic Symbols" Set, see step 7.

For the easiest typing, I suggest setting up the following keystrokes (this

assuming that you do NOT with to install the Spanish Keyboard).Symbols joined by a + need to be held down at the same time;

Alt + A

Alt + E

Alt + I

Alt + O

Alt + U

Alt + Shift + E

Alt + N

Alt + Shift + N

Alt + Shift + ?

Alt + Shift + !




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Alt + Shift + U


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