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HTML Block and Inline Elements

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

There are two display values: 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!

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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 »
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
There are two display values: block and inline
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 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.

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