É (uppercase) and é (lowercase) are forms of the letter E combined with an acute accent. The acute mark is a diacritic placed above the letter to signal a change in stress, vowel quality, length or tone depending on the language. While not part of standard native English spelling, this character appears in borrowings and proper names and is treated differently in orthographies around the world. See how it contrasts with the basic E and the diacritic known as the acute accent, and note its occasional role in English loanwords.

Characteristics and languages

The acute accent on E can indicate a stressed syllable, a specific vowel quality (such as a close-mid /e/), vowel length, or a tone contour. It is employed in many European and other languages; examples include Catalan, Danish, French, Galician, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Kashubian, Luxembourgish, Occitan, Norwegian, Portuguese, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Vietnamese, and Welsh. In some languages the mark is mandatory for correct spelling; in others it is optional or used only to distinguish homographs.

History and orthographic role

The acute accent developed in medieval manuscripts as a way to indicate stress or a particular vowel shape and was later standardized in national orthographies. In Romance languages it often marks a stressed or closed vowel; in some Slavic and Uralic languages it signals vowel length or a distinct quality. In Vietnamese, diacritics combine to show both vowel quality and tone, so the acute accent represents a rising tone on the vowel.

Examples and everyday use

Common loanwords into English retain the acute in careful writing to reflect the original form and pronunciation (for example, résumé and cliché). Proper names and brand names may also preserve the accent, and romanization systems use it when required by the source language: see general notes on romanizations. Popular examples include Pokémon and other foreign words retained with accents to indicate their original pronunciation.

Typing, encoding and capitalization

On computers and phones the character can be entered by using accent menus, special key combinations or composed input methods. In Unicode it appears as distinct code points for uppercase and lowercase. Orthographic rules vary: some languages always write the accent on uppercase letters (É), while in informal English usage it is sometimes omitted (resume vs. résumé). When the accent is used, capitalizing a word typically converts é to É rather than dropping the mark.

Notable distinctions and practical notes

  • Pronunciation varies: in many Romance languages é indicates a close-mid front vowel, whereas in Hungarian it marks a long vowel.
  • In languages with diacritic-rich systems, removing the acute can change meaning or create ambiguity.
  • Style guides differ on whether to keep accents in borrowed words; retaining them preserves etymology and pronunciation cues.

For learners and writers, it is useful to check language-specific orthography rules. Preserving the acute accent where it is meaningful helps readers identify correct stress and vowel quality, and modern digital text systems support E with accents across platforms.