# HTML Paragraphs

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HTML documents are divided into paragraphs.

## HTML Paragraphs

The HTML <p> element defines a paragraph.

## Example

<p>This is a paragraph</p>
<p>This is another paragraph</p>
Try it Yourself »

| Browsers automatically add an empty line before and after a paragraph.

## HTML Display

You cannot be sure how HTML will be displayed.

Large or small screens, and resized windows will create different results.

With HTML, you cannot change the output by adding extra spaces or extra lines in your HTML code.

The browser will remove extra spaces and extra lines when the page is displayed.

Any number of spaces, and any number of new lines, count as only one space.

## Example

<p>
This paragraph
contains a lot of lines
in the source code,
but the browser
ignores it.
</p>
<p>
This paragraph
contains a lot of spaces
in the source code,
but the browser
ignores it.
</p>
Try it Yourself »

## Don't Forget the End Tag

Most browsers will display HTML correctly even if you forget the end tag:

## Example

<p>This is a paragraph
<p>This is another paragraph
Try it Yourself »

The example above will work in most browsers, but don't rely on it.

Forgetting the end tag can produce unexpected results or errors.

| Stricter versions of HTML, like XHTML, do not allow you to skip the end tag.

## HTML Line Breaks

The HTML <br> element defines a line break.

Use <br> if you want a line break (a new line) without starting a new paragraph:

## Example

<p>This is<br>a para<br>graph with line breaks</p>
Try it Yourself »

The <br> element is an empty HTML element. It has no end tag.

## The Poem Problem

## Example

<p>This poem will display as one line:</p>
<p>
My Bonnie lies over the ocean.
My Bonnie lies over the sea.
My Bonnie lies over the ocean.
Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me.
</p>
Try it Yourself »

## The HTML <pre> Element

The HTML <pre> element defines a block of pre-formatted text, with structured spaces and lines.

To display anything, with right spacing and line-breaks, you must wrap the text in a <pre> element:

## Example

<p>This will display as a poem:</p>
<pre>
My Bonnie lies over the ocean.
My Bonnie lies over the sea.
My Bonnie lies over the ocean.
Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me.
</pre>
Try it Yourself »

## Test Yourself with Exercises!

Exercise 1 » Exercise 2 » Exercise 3 »

## HTML Tag Reference

W3Schools' tag reference contains additional information about HTML elements and their attributes.

Tag | Description
--- | ---
<p> | Defines a paragraph
<br> | Inserts a single line break
<pre> | Defines pre-formatted text

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