Italic text is slanted to the right. Writing in italics emphasizes a part of the text of the document, whether it is a file created with a software application, a website page created in HTML, a LaTeX document or a Wikipedia page. Each application has its own method of rendering italicized text.
Steps
Part 1 of 5: Write Italic Text in an Application
Step 1. Decide what part of the text to italicize
In most programs, you will be able to select the text to edit in these two ways:
- Select existing text to italicize. Place the cursor in front of the first letter of a block of text to be italicized. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the cursor over the block of text to highlight it, then release the button.
- Write new text in italics. Put the cursor inside the body of the text, where you want to insert the new words in italics. In most cases, it will be at the end of the text already present.
Step 2. Use the appropriate commands
Within the program, you can make text italic using the graphical interface or with a keyboard shortcut.
- In Microsoft Office applications and many other similar programs, there is a toolbar or ribbon that includes a set of text formatting control buttons. Among them, there is a button with the icon indicating a capital "I" tilted to the right: this is the button for Italic.
- Press CTRL and I on your keyboard at the same time to enable italics in Windows.
- On MacOS, you can enable italics by simultaneously pressing COMMAND and I on the keyboard.
Step 3. Make the text italic
How you use the commands to write in italics depends on how you select the text.
- To italicize the portion of text you have selected, click the Italic button or use the keyboard shortcut. The selected text will become italic and the selection will disappear.
- To write text directly in italics, click the Italic button or use the keyboard shortcut. Start writing. Once written, the text will be displayed in italics. To turn off italics, click the Italic button or use the keyboard shortcut again. The text you write from that moment will no longer be in italics.
Part 2 of 5: Writing in HTML Italics
Step 1. Put the italic tag in front of the text to be transformed
The italic tag is an uppercase or lowercase "I" enclosed between the minus signs (): or.
You can put the tag in front of a piece of already typed text or write the tag and then the text to be edited
Step 2. Close the italic tag after the text to transform
The closing tag of the italics is similar to the opening tag, except for the slash between the minor sign and the "I": o.
- If you do not insert the closing italic tag after the text to be edited, all words following the tag will be italicized.
- Many websites allow you to enable HTML to support bold, italic and underlined text. However, they do not necessarily support other HTML features.
Part 3 of 5: Writing Italic Text in LaTeX
Step 1. Write the text file with an editor
LaTeX (pronounced “LEI-tech” or “LA-tech”) is a writing application that transforms text files into formatted documents. To use LaTeX, you will first need to create a document with a text editor, containing instructions that tell LaTeX what kind of document it is and where it actually begins. These statements are commands starting with the backslash character ().
- Specify the document type with the “\ documentclass” command, with the document type inserted in parentheses. For an article, the command will be “\ documentclass {article}” (do not include the quotes; they are used only to highlight the example).
- Specify where the text portion begins with the “\ begin {document}” command.
Step 2. Enclose the text to be italicized in curly brackets ({})
The brackets indicate the point where italics begin and end, according to the instructions specified by the command.
You can nest several formatting commands, such as italicizing a large block of text, with a portion inside in bold. If you nest the commands, be sure to close any brackets you open, to format the text the way you want
Step 3. Precede the text to be italicized by the command “\ textit”
A sentence with the last word in italics would be written as follows: "One of the first television programs to represent the routine of police officers in a realistic way was / textit {Adam-12}".
Part 4 of 5: Italicize a Wikipedia Article
Step 1. Enclose the text to be italicized in a couple of quotes
Two single quotes (apostrophes), before and after the text to be written in italics, indicate to the Wikipedia editor the text to be rendered in italics. You can write the text first if you prefer and then insert the quotes to enclose it, or write the quotes first and insert the text inside.
- You can distinguish two consecutive quotes from double quotes due to the increased space between characters.
- If your text editor has the "smart quotes" feature, you may need to turn it off to allow the text editor to recognize single quotes as formatting indices.
- If you have a hyperlink that contains italicized text, the quotes of the italic must stay outside the hyperlink brackets if you want all text to appear in italics. If you only need to italicize part of the hyperlink, you can only put quotes before and after the text you want to change.
Part 5 of 5: Knowing When to Write Italic
Step 1. Italicize the words you want to emphasize
In simple terms, this means that any words that you would underline in a handwritten letter for emphasis, or that you would say more strongly than others when speaking, should be written in italics in a document on a computer or on a website. For example, "I am the only only child among my cousins".
Step 2. Italicize foreign words that have not yet been adopted in Italian
Foreign words and phrases used in the written language are italicized for added impact, as deadline instead of "deadline". Foreign words that have become commonplace are not written in italics, such as fitness.
Latin words for the species and genus of an organism are also written in italics, such as Homo sapiens
Step 3. Italicize the technical terms
This is normally done at the first mention of the technical term, particularly if it has a different meaning from that of the common language.
Physical constants, such as c for the speed of light and variables in algebra, as in “n = 2”, are also written in italics
Step 4. Italicize the quotations in bulk
A bulk quote is a long quote (typically 100 words or more, or at least 5-8 lines of text) separated from the rest of the text and indented. Often these quotes are written in italics or in a different font size.
- When an object should be written in italics within a block quote, already rendered in italics, the text is commonly written in plain text to make it stand out from the rest of the quote.
- Large blocks of italicized text can be difficult to read on some computer screens. In these cases, you may want to write bulk quotes in a different font than the rest of the text.
Step 5. Italicize the names of vehicles carrying many people
While it is not necessary to italicize the make, model and military designation of any vehicle, vessel or aircraft, you should italicize the following means:
- Trains (The Golden State Limited), but not the names of the individual carriages.
- Ships, military or passenger vessels (USS Lexington, Queen Elizabeth II).
- Airplane names or nicknames not based on construction or performance characteristics (Memphis Belle or Cutter's Goose from the Tales of the Gold Monkey TV series, but not the Batplane).
- Spaceships, real or fictional (the Space Shuttle Challenger, the spaceship Enterprise, the Millennium Falcon). Space missions, such as Apollo 11, do not have to be written in italics.
Step 6. Italicize the titles of certain major fictional works
You will need to write the following works in italics, unless otherwise noted on the style manuals:
- Books (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone), except the titles of religious books such as the Bible or the Koran. Chapter titles, sections and short stories in anthologies should be written in quotation marks.
- Magazines (Panorama, L'Espresso). The titles of the articles ("I Am Joe's Kidney") must be enclosed in double quotes.
- Newspapers (La Repubblica, Il Corriere della Sera).
- Theatrical works (Romeo and Juliet, So is if there Pare?).
- Cases in court (Kramer vs Kramer).
- Television and radio programs (Star Trek, Deejay Chiama Italia). Episode titles are written in quotation marks (“Amok Time,” “Temple Bells of Neban”).
- Record albums (Bollicine, La voce del padrone). The titles of the songs are written in quotation marks ("Reckless Life", "White Flag").
- Works of art (Mona Lisa, The Last Supper).
- Punctuation marks that are part of the title are italicized with the rest of the text.
Step 7. Italicize a character's internal dialogue
In fictional works, when a character's thoughts are expressed in words for the benefit of the reader, they are often written in italics, for example “Laura looked apprehensively at her husband. It's funny, Carlo never asks for a second cup of coffee..
Step 8. Italicize onomatopoeias (words that express sounds)
If you are trying to render a sound with a written word as the reader would hear it, write that word in italics: “The surprised cat let out an angry Miaooo! ". If you are using a word to describe a general sound, do not write it in italics: "The cat meowed.".
