Mac users - can anyone try this and set me on the right track?

frivolous_fay

Edit: Have been trying to use the shortcuts linked below. I can make é work, but not the accent in the other direction! (grave)

Could anyone on a Mac please try this and see if they can make it work? I'm using alt ' and then the e and all I get is æe


I found these once before and then lost them ... what I'm after is a list of the keystrokes you need to get special characters (on a Mac) eg - French E with accents going either way (one is a grave I believe) and any other French characters.

I deal with a French dealership of my company and it would be nice not to look illiterate all the time when I write their names

Trying to find this info in either Mac online help or elsewhere on the net is like pulling teeth! Any pointers appreciated...

startrekker

Try again, is this what you need HERE

frivolous_fay

That's the one, thanks a lot

I was probably searching using the wrong words.

frivolous_fay

Stuck again! Please see first post.

Moneymaker

Press [alt] plus [`] (release) then press [e] works for me in TextEdit. But it might not work in a forum window. Let's see: è
.
Press [alt]+[`] (release) then press [e] = è
.
Press [alt]+[`] (release) then press [shift]+[E] = È
.
Press [alt]+ (release) then press [e] = ê
.
Press [alt]+ (release) then press [a] = ä
.
.

frivolous_fay

Is there more than one ' ?

Mine seems to be vertical, I'm not getting the angled one you seem to have...?

è Aha! FOUND IT!

Stupid... can anyone tell me of a purpose for `? It's not correct in it`s, 'this` looks stupid... it's pointless!

Moneymaker

frivolous_fay wrote:

can anyone tell me of a purpose for `? It's not correct in it`s, 'this` looks stupid... it's pointless!

It's called a "grave" (pronounced "grarv") accent. Its purpose is to modify the pronunciation of the vowel. :rolleyes:

frivolous_fay

Moneymaker wrote:

It's called a "grave" (pronounced "grarv") accent. Its purpose is to modify the pronunciation of the vowel. :rolleyes:

Is it ever used in English, so as to explain its presence on my keyboard? :rolleyes:

Moneymaker

It's about as useful as the € (euro) symbol.

Nickygoat

frivolous_fay wrote:

Is it ever used in English, so as to explain its presence on my keyboard? :rolleyes:

No but it is used in French - so if it's on your KB you have a French specced KB. If it's a desktop buy an English one. If it's a laptop then you're SOL without spending a fair amount of cash (without buying an external KB).

On Mac OSX pressing Alt + (any other key) will give you alternative letters.

Most common are:
n=ñ
p=?
c=ç
a=å
o=ø
i-^
0=º

I speak to different people in Danish & Spanish so they're the most common for me. YMMV -play around in TextEdit or Word and see what comes up.

There are a sh**load of "interesting or amusing" key combos for us Mac users.

Try Cmd-Alt-Ctrl-8. (Cmd is the key with the Apple logo on it)

Same key combo to reverse.

Or hold Shift while using Exposé (F9/F10/F11/F12) or minimising windows - very nice

Or the Kill All Dock trick