While paragraphs and lists are meant to identify whole blocks of text, we sometimes want to provide meaning to a word (or a few words) within a text.
Strong
For important words, use the <strong> tag:
<p>
This is <strong>important</strong> but this is not.
</p>This is important but this is not.
By default, <strong> elements are displayed in bold, but keep in mind that it is only the browser’s default behavior. Don’t use <strong> only to put some text in bold, but rather to give it more importance.
Emphasis
For emphasized words, use the <em> tag:
<p>
This is <em>emphasized</em> but this is not.
</p>This is emphasized but this is not.
By default, <em> elements are displayed in italic, but keep in mind that it is only the browser’s default behavior. Don’t use <em> only to put some text in italic, but rather to give it stress emphasis.
Abbreviations
Abbreviations like W3C or CD can use the <abbr> element:
<p>
I just bought a <abbr>CD</abbr>.
</p>You can add a title attribute to specify the abbreviation’s description, which will appear by hovering the element:
<p>
I just bought a <abbr title="Compact Disc">CD</abbr>.
</p>I just bought a CD.
Inline quotes
The <blockquote> element is a block-level element. It has an inline version: <q>:
<p>
He said <q>“Hello World”</q> and just left.
</p>
He said “Hello World”
and just left.
Other inline elements
There are plenty of other inline semantic elements to choose from, but we’ve covered the most common ones.