HTML Entity for Grave Tone Mark (à)

Beginner
5 min read
Updated: Sep 2026
1 example
Unicode U+0340

What Is Grave Tone Mark?

Combining grave tone mark is the Unicode character at U+0340 in Combining Diacritical Marks. Official name: COMBINING GRAVE TONE MARK. It must follow a base letter (for example a + U+0340 → à).

Remember
Character     ◌̀ (combining; needs a base letter)
Unicode       U+0340
Hex entity    ̀
Decimal       ̀
CSS escape    \0340
Named entity  (none)
Meaning       combining grave tone mark (phonetics / tone)
Not the same  à (grave accent) · ` (`) · acute tone mark

Prefer ̀ or ̀ after a letter (no named form). For everyday accents, prefer U+0300 or precomposed à.

Quick Reference

One table for every form you will actually use.

FormCodeWhere it goes
Named entityNone—
Hex entitỳAfter a base letter in HTML
Decimal entitỳAfter a base letter in HTML
Direct characterbase + U+0340HTML text (UTF-8)
CSS escape\0340Stylesheet content

When to Use Which

SituationUse
Phonetic / tone notation needing U+0340à or à
Ordinary grave accent aboveGrave accent — à
Common letter àà (à)
Standalone backtickGrave accent like — `
Generated text via ::before / ::aftercontent: "a\0340" (base + escape)

Live Preview

Always shown on a base letter — combining marks do not stand alone.

With base à è ì ò ù
Large à
Sample Tone: à
Compared à   à   `   à
With entities Hex: à | Decimal: à

Complete HTML Example

One page that builds grave tone mark with hex, decimal, CSS escape, and a comparison to U+0300. Use View Output or open the live editor.

Hex + Decimal + CSS + Compared

Three ways to show grave tone mark, plus combining grave for contrast.

html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>Grave Tone Mark (U+0340) in HTML</title>
  <style>
    #point::after {
      content: "a\0340";
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
  <p>Built with Hex: a&#x340;</p>
  <p>Built with Decimal: a&#832;</p>
  <p id="point">Built with CSS: </p>
  <p>Grave accent U+0300: a&#x300;</p>
  <p>Precomposed: &agrave;</p>
</body>
</html>
Try It Yourself

How It Works

1. Hex: a&#x340; places combining grave tone mark after a → à.

2. Decimal: same mark as 832 → a&#832;. Same visual as hex.

3. CSS: use \0340 with a base letter in content, for example "a\0340". Prefer four hex digits so the escape does not swallow the next character.

4. Compared: a&#x300; is the usual combining grave. U+0340 looks the same and may normalize to U+0300 under NFC — prefer U+0300 unless you need this tone-mark code point.

Pitfalls & Tips

Common mistakes when working with grave tone mark.

Base

Always use a base letter

U+0340 alone may look like a floating mark or nothing useful. Write a&#x340;, not a lone &#x340;.

NFC

Normalization may rewrite it

U+0340 is canonically equivalent to U+0300. After NFC, a&#x340; may become a&#x300; or even &agrave;. Keep this in mind for exact code-point matching.

Name

No named entity

There is no HTML5 named entity for U+0340. Use &#x340; or &#832;. Do not invent &gravetone;.

CSS

Pad the CSS escape

Prefer \0340. A short \340 can swallow the next hex digit if one follows immediately.

CSS vs HTML

Do not mix escapes

\0340 belongs in CSS strings. &#x340; / &#832; belong in HTML.

Font

Font stacking matters

Some fonts render combining tone marks poorly. If à looks wrong, try a font with strong diacritic support.

Semicolon

End references

Always finish entities with ; — write &#x340;, not &#x340.

Browser Support

Combining grave tone mark (U+0340) and its entity forms (&#x340;, &#832;, CSS \\0340) are supported in all mainstream browsers. Visible stacking depends on font support; normalization may map it to U+0300.

✓ Universal support

Grave Tone Mark (a&#x0340;)

Encode with hex or decimal after a base letter, or use CSS escape with a base in content — same code point everywhere encoding is supported.

100% Browser coverage
Google Chrome Supported
Yes
Microsoft Edge Supported
Yes
Mozilla Firefox Supported
Yes
Apple Safari Supported
Yes
Opera Supported
Yes
Internet Explorer All versions
Yes
U+0340 Full support

Bottom line: Prefer a&#x340; in HTML (no named form). Use &#832; when decimal form is required, and \\0340 only inside CSS content.

Key Takeaways

  • Unicode: grave tone mark is U+0340 (decimal 832) — needs a base letter.
  • HTML: no named entity — use a&#x340; / a&#832;.
  • CSS: use \0340 with a base letter inside content.
  • Meaning: U+0340 ≈ U+0300 visually — NFC may rewrite the tone mark.

One line: base + U+0340 → a&#x340; / a&#832; / CSS a\0340.

Frequently Asked Questions

Place &#x340; (hex) or &#832; (decimal) after a base letter, for example a&#x340;. There is no named HTML entity for U+0340. You can also use CSS \0340 in content.
U+0340 (COMBINING GRAVE TONE MARK). Hex 340, decimal 832. It belongs to Combining Diacritical Marks (U+0300–U+036F).
No. HTML5 does not define a named entity for combining grave tone mark. Prefer &#x340; or &#832;.
Use it for phonetic or tonal notation that specifically calls for the grave tone mark. For ordinary accented letters, prefer U+0300 or a precomposed character such as &agrave;.
HTML numeric entities (&#832; or &#x340;) go in markup after a base letter. The CSS escape \0340 goes in stylesheet strings (usually content on ::before/::after).
They look the same and are canonically equivalent. Unicode NFC may convert U+0340 to U+0300. Prefer U+0300 unless you need the tone-mark code point explicitly.

Did you know?

Combining grave tone mark is Unicode U+0340 (decimal 832) — COMBINING GRAVE TONE MARK in Combining Diacritical Marks. There is no HTML5 named entity; use &#x340; or &#832; after a base letter. It is canonically equivalent to combining grave accent (U+0300), so Unicode NFC may rewrite it. Prefer U+0300 for general accents unless you specifically need the tone-mark code point.

Next: Greater Than

Learn the HTML entity for greater than (U+003E).

Greater than tutorial →

About the author

Mari Selvan M P
Mari Selvan M P 🔗

Developer, cloud engineer, and technical writer

  • Experience 12 years building web and cloud systems
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I write practical tutorials so students and working developers can learn by doing—from databases and APIs to deployment on AWS.

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