Syntax
<html lang="en">
<p lang="fr">Bonjour</p>Examples
Declaring Document and Content Languages: working example
Save as an HTML file and open it in a browser. Expected result: Three greetings appear; the French and Spanish paragraphs declare their own languages.
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Working example</title>
</head>
<body>
<p>Hello, welcome.</p>
<p lang="fr">Bonjour, bienvenue.</p>
<p lang="es">Hola, bienvenido.</p>
</body>
</html>- Expected result: Three greetings appear; the French and Spanish paragraphs declare their own languages.
- The root language is inherited by the first paragraph.
- A local language attribute applies to that element’s descendants, so a mixed-language document need not choose only one language.
Best practices
- Use valid BCP 47 language tags, such as en or pt-BR.
- Declare actual content language instead of inferring it from a visitor’s location.
Browser compatibility
Support applies to the named feature, not every attribute or behaviour in this article. Versions refer to browsers, not operating systems.
lang
Desktop
- Chrome
- Supported
From 1 - Firefox
- Supported
From 1 - Safari
- Supported
By 4 (possibly earlier) - Edge
- Supported
From 12 - Opera
- Supported
From 15
Mobile
- Safari on iOS
- Supported
By 3.2 (possibly earlier) - Chrome for Android
- Supported
From 18 - Firefox for Android
- Supported
From 4 - Samsung Internet
- Supported
From 1.0
MDN BCD record for this feature · MDN reference
Support history and limitations
Chrome
- From 1
Firefox
- From 1
Safari
- By 4 (possibly earlier)
Edge
- From 12
Opera
- From 15
Safari on iOS
- By 3.2 (possibly earlier)
Chrome for Android
- From 18
Firefox for Android
- From 4
Samsung Internet
- From 1.0
MDN BCD 8.1.5 · Dataset built 2026-10-08 · Mapping reviewed 2026-10-21. These dates are not individual browser-test or claim-verification dates. Unknown means the data does not establish support.