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HTML lang Attribute


Example

Some French text in a paragraph:

<p lang="fr">Ceci est un paragraphe.</p>
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Definition and Usage

The lang attribute specifies the language of the element's content.

Common examples are "en" for English, "es" for Spanish, "fr" for French, and so on.


Browser Support

Attribute
lang  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Differences Between HTML 4.01 and HTML5

In HTML5, the lang attribute can be used on any HTML element (it will validate on any HTML element. However, it is not necessarily useful).

In HTML 4.01, the lang attribute cannot be used with: <base>, <br>, <frame>, <frameset>, <hr>, <iframe>, <param>, and <script>.


Syntax

<element lang="language_code">

Attribute Values

Value Description
language_code Specifies the language code for the element's content. Language code reference

Related Pages

HTML Tutorial: HTML Attributes

HTML DOM Reference: HTML DOM lang Property