HTML Lang Codes
Write the root element for an English page and a French paragraph within it.
Understand the topic
The lang attribute identifies the language of content using a language tag. A primary language subtag can be followed by a region or other subtags, such as en-GB. Language metadata helps pronunciation, spelling tools, and processing; it does not translate the content. Mark changes of language on the relevant element and set the overall language on html.
Worked example
<table><caption>Example language tags</caption><tr><th scope="col">Tag</th><th scope="col">Language</th></tr><tr><td>en</td><td>English</td></tr><tr><td>en-GB</td><td>English with a United Kingdom regional designation</td></tr><tr><td>fr</td><td>French</td></tr><tr><td>es</td><td>Spanish</td></tr><tr><td>ar</td><td>Arabic</td></tr><tr><td>zh-Hans</td><td>Chinese written in the Simplified script</td></tr></table>
<p>The French greeting is <span lang="fr">bonjour</span>.</p>The inline language change applies to bonjour while the surrounding paragraph keeps the document language. Text direction is configured separately with dir.
Practice
Write the root element for an English page and a French paragraph within it.
Show a suggested answer
<html lang="en">
<!-- ... -->
<p lang="fr">Bienvenue</p>
<!-- ... -->
</html>Common mistake
Do not use a country code alone as if it always names a language. Countries can have multiple languages.