HTML Block And Inline Elements - W3Schools

HTML Block and Inline Elements ❮ Previous Next ❯

Every HTML element has a default display value, depending on what type of element it is.

The two most common display values are block and inline.

Block-level Elements

A block-level element always starts on a new line, and the browsers automatically add some space (a margin) before and after the element.

A block-level element always takes up the full width available (stretches out to the left and right as far as it can).

Two commonly used block elements are: <p> and <div>.

The <p> element defines a paragraph in an HTML document.

The <div> element defines a division or a section in an HTML document.

The <p> element is a block-level element.

The <div> element is a block-level element.

Example

<p>Hello World</p><div>Hello World</div> Try it Yourself »

Here are the block-level elements in HTML:

<address> <article> <aside> <blockquote> <canvas> <dd> <div> <dl> <dt> <fieldset> <figcaption> <figure> <footer> <form> <h1>-<h6> <header> <hr> <li> <main> <nav> <noscript> <ol> <p> <pre> <section> <table> <tfoot> <ul> <video>

Inline Elements

An inline element does not start on a new line.

An inline element only takes up as much width as necessary.

This is a <span> element inside a paragraph.

Example

<span>Hello World</span> Try it Yourself »

Here are the inline elements in HTML:

<a> <abbr> <acronym> <b> <bdo> <big> <br> <button> <cite> <code> <dfn> <em> <i> <img> <input> <kbd> <label> <map> <object> <output> <q> <samp> <script> <select> <small> <span> <strong> <sub> <sup> <textarea> <time> <tt> <var>

Note: An inline element cannot contain a block-level element!

The <div> Element

The <div> element is often used as a container for other HTML elements.

The <div> element has no required attributes, but style, class and id are common.

When used together with CSS, the <div> element can be used to style blocks of content:

Example

<div style="background-color:black;color:white;padding:20px;"> <h2>London</h2> <p>London is the capital city of England. It is the most populous city in the United Kingdom, with a metropolitan area of over 13 million inhabitants.</p> </div> Try it Yourself »

You will learn more about the <div> element in the next chapter.

The <span> Element

The <span> element is an inline container used to mark up a part of a text, or a part of a document.

The <span> element has no required attributes, but style, class and id are common.

When used together with CSS, the <span> element can be used to style parts of the text:

Example

<p>My mother has <span style="color:blue;font-weight:bold;">blue</span> eyes and my father has <span style="color:darkolivegreen;font-weight:bold;">dark green</span> eyes.</p> Try it Yourself »

Chapter Summary

• A block-level element always starts on a new line and takes up the full width available
• An inline element does not start on a new line and it only takes up as much width as necessary
• The <div> element is a block-level and is often used as a container for other HTML elements
• The <span> element is an inline container used to mark up a part of a text, or a part of a document

HTML Exercises

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

Name one HTML block element.

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

HTML Tags

Tag	Description
<div>	Defines a section in a document (block-level)
<span>	Defines a section in a document (inline)

For a complete list of all available HTML tags, visit our HTML Tag Reference.

Video: HTML Block and Inline

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