• 3-minute read
• 12th February 2018

Four Ways of Formatting for Emphasis

HELLO! Welcome to our blog. In this post, we’re looking at adding emphasis to writing in Microsoft Word. We have four main options for you, all of which are used in this paragraph.

The formatting options in question are italics, bold, underlining and all-caps. Each has its own applications, so the key is knowing which one to use in which situations.

1. Italics

Italics are the default emphasis style in most formal writing, including academic work. You’ll often see something like this in textbooks, for instance:

Italicising ‘declined’ here emphasises the surprise set up in ‘contrary to predictions’. This isn’t strictly necessary, but it does reinforce the point the author is making.

However, italics are also used for other reasons (e.g. marking loanwords from other languages). As such, if you are using italics for emphasis, make sure this usage will be clear to the reader.

2. Bold

Bold typefaces are seen most often in headings and subheadings, but they can also be used to emphasise particular words or phrases within a sentence:

Here, the bold font highlights a key detail in the sentence. This is visually striking, which makes it easier to spot while skim reading. Although less common in academic writing, you will find bold typefaces used a lot online and in other less formal contexts.

3. Underlining

It is rare to use underlining for emphasis these days. In fact, it was mostly used in the age of typewriters, which didn’t have bold or italic typefaces.

We have computers now, of course, so that isn’t an issue any more. Nevertheless, underlining can still be useful for highlighting something within a sentence that is already emphasised:

In most cases, though, you will be better off using bold or italics for emphasis.

4. ALL-CAPS

FINALLY, WE HAVE ALL-CAPS. THE PROBLEM WITH THIS IS THAT IT MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE YOU’RE SHOUTING, ESPECIALLY IF YOU OVERUSE IT.

Ahem. Pardon us. Anyway, the point is that you should avoid all-caps unless you want to look loud. This is why it is most common in adverts, warning signs and titles, which are designed to grab your attention.

Quote Marks: A Warning

Quote marks are very useful things. You can use them for quoting sources or marking dialogue. You can even use scare quotes to suggest that something is ironic or questionable.

However, you should NOT use quote marks for emphasis. This is a fairly common problem, and it can cause clarity issues (or at the very least hugely annoy pedants).

Final Emphasis Tips

Before we finish, we have two final tips about emphasis to share:

1. Be Sparing – If you overuse emphasis, it will lose its impact.
2. Be Consistent – Use formatting styles consistently. If you switch between different types of emphasis in a single document, your reader may struggle to know what it means.

Follow this advice, and you should be able to make your point clearly (and forcefully) at all times!