Many thanks to Joan, who raised this issue in a comment on my last post. Rather than reply to her there and then, it occured to me that the problem learners have finding accented Italian characters on a computer keyboard is one that would make a great topic for an article.
So here it is.
OK, the situation is that you’re learning Italian, and therefore want or need to write with Italian accented characters. But you’re not using an Italian computer, which is not really surprising if you live in Australia or Germany.
Not having an Italian keyboard makes it tricky to write in Italian, whether that be to complete your homework tasks, write up your study notes, or contribute in the OnlineItalianClub.com forums!
The problem is simply stated: where the hell do you find the accented characters: ì, è, è, ò, à, and ù?
This may be a trivial issue, but it sure can be a bothersome one, even for professional translators and others who work with foreign languages.
So, here are 7 things you can try to resolve your accented characters problem!
By the way, if you’re using a PC, before you deal with the issue of identifying (and remembering) which keys have the characters you need to write accented characters in Italian, you’ll need to add Italian to your keyboard language options, and learn how to switch the language of your keyboard between Italian and English according to what you’re writing.
Once you’ve set Italian as an option, you’ll find a language icon on the menu bar at the bottom of the screen, so you can just click IT whenever you want to type in Italian.
- My original attempt at solving the problem, from way back in 1998: you’re using an “English” keyboard, but inputting characters in Italian (you’ve worked out how to change the input language, as mentioned above.) So how do you know which key represents which character? Easy! Type each letter of the Italian keyboard in turn into a text document, so you end up with a visual representation of the layout of your keyboard on your screen. Then print it out, and glue it to your monitor (which were bigger in those days and so had more space for post-it notes.)
- Here’s one for the ladies: use colored blobs of nail varnish on the keys you use for accented Italian characters – red for è & è, blue for ù, pink for ì, and so on. Then keep a key to the colors somewhere handy.
- Techies! Buy an Italian USB keyboard and plug it in… These days you can even get bendy ones that fold up small to fit in your laptop bag.
- Got time on your hands? Take an Italian touch-typing course. Does anyone do this any more? Touch-typing was the most useful skill I ever acquired, and saves me masses of time each and every day.
- On your next visit to Italy, trade in your old computer for a nice, shiny Italian one (it’s much easier to write English on an Italian keyboard than vice versa)
- Switch from using a desktop or laptop to a tablet computer, which will have a “virtual” keypad that you can easily change from one language to another
- And finally… the solution that ITALIANS USE! (You wouldn’t believe how many years it took me to work this out.) Simply don’t bother. Instead of typing è or à, type e’ or a’. It’s perfectly acceptable to use apostrophes to represent accents, especially when fonts don’t have the correct accented characters: a’, e’, i’, o’, u’. Problem solved.
Of course, knowing HOW to type an accented character is one thing, remembering which words do or don’t need accents, quite another!
P.S. If you, like Joan, have an “Italian-issue” you’d like help with, or any other suggestions for dealing with the tricky Italian-characters-on-the-keyboard problem, why not leave a comment below, or write something in the forum.
Last call for Italian Workout! B2 at the launch price of just €9.99 only until Friday. Next week the C1-2 (advanced), the final e-book in our series, hits the virtual shelves of our shop.
Sarah Ellis says
Thanks Daniel, that was really useful! You & Joan have picked up on something that niggled me every time I tried to write anything in Italian but it hadn’t really loomed large enough in my consciousness to try to do anything about it 🙂 Don’t think the “old man” would be too pleased if I graffitied the keyboard with nail varnish though 😮 Think I may try the “tablet” route…
Daniel says
Happy to be of service. But definitely don’t put nail varnish on your i-pad…
John Thomson says
nice to see you back Sarah
John
Sarah Ellis says
Thank you John! 🙂 I have a warm glow now! I wouldn’t say I’m fully back yet but sporadically peeping in, as at the moment I’m rather traitorously involved in hosting a (shhhh!) Spanish student for 4 weeks 😉 Hope to be back in chat-mode soon!
John Thomson says
Good to know you are well, Chloe one of my granddaughters is negotiating a place with a family in Italy, my daughter had a German girl staying for two weeks, a nice girl, her command of English was excellent.
Poor old Daniel oops Hannah is having a problem with those spammers but as Pavarroti would say vinceremo
John
Did you try the recipe ?
Sarah Ellis says
Haven’t tried it yet but have not forgotten 🙂 The student is 12 and her English really puts my Italian to shame. I must start attempting to converse in Italian in the chatroom. It’s great Daniel’s got Hannah on the case – she’s very conscientious and I’m sure she’ll show them no mercy 🙂
Tutu says
Hi Daniel,
I thought I’d leave a comment on this post because I’ve got another solution for typing accented characters, which is not ideal but could be used if you don’t need to write in Italian very often. Many people will probably know it anyway.
So, to type a character with ` , i.e. ì, è, è, ò, à, ù, just press Alt (Option) + ~ (tilde/accent key at the bottom left corner) on a Mac keyboard (or control + ~ on Windows) and then, when the accent appears, type whichever vowel you need and it will appear accented. For characters with ´, press Alt + E and then type the letter. It might sound more complicated than it is, but actually it’s quick and easy, and you can use for other European languages…
Tutu
Daniel says
That DOES sound complicated, Tutu. But if you say it’s Worth a try, I guess I’ll give it a go! Or not, as I’ve just noticed my laptop doesn’t have the tilde key… Wonder why?
Back to apostrophes, then.
Karen Drage says
I have used some of the solutions above but now have a really easy one. I use a Mac. I have added the Italian Languge keyboard in my settings and it is a simple matter to toggle between them. When I am in Italian keyboard I just select Show Keyboard from the drop down menu and a little box opens not only showing which buttons to use, but also which one you are pressing, you can press them also by clicking in the box. It is the simplest thing ever. Am sure there must be a similar method on a PC
Daniel says
Don’t be so sure. PCs are not Macs. I’m currently wrestling with Windows 8, which has be cursing out loud frequently.
John Thomson says
Here is the way I do it, crude but at least it produces the accented characters
I have a PC windows 7
1 open word
2 select review
3 select language
4 select labguage preference
5 click add additional editing language
6 choose italian (italy) from drop down list
7 click add
8 click OK
9 then it says you must restart word click
10 shut down word
11 open word
12 you will see EN English(United Kingdom) ? help
13 click on this
14 Italian appears click on it
the keys I have worked out are
e grave is ;
o grave is ;
a grave is ‘ (@ is on the keyboard
u grave is #
If you have a play you will probably get the acute accents ( I have lost the ?)
it works for me
John Thomson
when you want to return to English typing click on the italian then select English
John Thomson says
Further to my previous post these are the only characters I need / use
It is very easy to toggle between English and Italian
I found the question mark
1 é is {
2 è is [
3 ò is ;
4 à is ‘
5 ù is #
6 ? is _
John Thomson
Stefanie Newman says
How thrilled I was to see that my method–using apostrophes–is the one the Italians use. I think I will experiment with John Thomson’s method. I have found in the past that if I try to add a character to a letter in Windows the timing is crucial. If I don’t press the character button and the vowel in the right sequence it doesn’t work.
Sheryle Rogerson says
These are the short cut keys for Pc and Mac but onthe newer mac just hold down the letter ie a for 2 seconds and then 5 options come up with accents on the letters in all different way then select or type the number corresponding to the accented vowel you want really easy. Sheryle
à opt ` + a alt + 0224 ñ opt n + n alt + 0241
á opt e + a alt + 0225 ò opt ` + o alt + 0242
â opt i + a alt + 0226 ó opt e + o alt + 0243
ä opt u + a alt + 0228 ô opt i + o alt + 0244
ç opt c alt + 0231 ö opt u + o alt + 0245
è opt ` + e alt + 0232 ß opt + s alt + 0223
é opt e + e alt + 0233 ù opt ` + u alt + 0249
ê opt i + e alt + 0234 ú opt e + u alt + 0250
ë opt u + e alt + 0235 û opt i + u alt + 0251
ì opt ` + i alt + 0236 ü opt u + u alt + 0252
í opt e + i alt + 0237 ¡ opt 1 alt + 0161
î opt i +
¿ opt shift ?
sandslane says
The way I’ve been doing accents up to now is to use the character map. You just have to select, copy and paste into your document.
Dot Read says
Hi All,
Does anyone use “Lexibar Italian”? It’s a small keyboard which appears on your screen, containing just the accented characters in Italian (or German / Spanish / French etc.) You can toggle between upper and lower case. Brilliant.
I downloaded it years ago for free and I’ve been using it ever since. Not sure whether you might have to pay for it now though.
Dot