The
Windows | Mac OS | HTML | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
paragraph mark | alt 0182 | option + 7 | ¶ | |
section mark | alt 0167 | option + 6 | § |
A paragraph mark or section mark should always be followed by a nonbreaking space. The nonbreaking space acts like glue that keeps the mark joined with the numeric reference that follows.
Without the nonbreaking space, the mark and the reference can end up on separate lines or pages. This can confuse readers.
1782, offer a full refund to buyers. But ¶ 49 of the contract offers another option. | |
§ 1782, offer a full refund to buyers. But ¶ 49 of the contract offers another option. |
If the paragraph or section reference comes at the start of a sentence, don’t use the mark—spell out the whole word (
Though these marks are used most frequently by legal and academic writers, there’s no reason others shouldn’t use them
Occasionally you see paragraph marks used within a solid block of text to denote internal paragraphs. This is archaic. If you need to denote real paragraphs (not references to paragraphs) then use a first-line indent or space between paragraphs.