Simple, continuous text is the most basic and essential element, and can usually be simply typed in the source files.
Paragraphs can be split into several lines for improved readibility. Instead, paragraphs end at blank lines, or more specificaly, visibly empty lines.
This is the first paragraph.
This previous line break didn't end this paragraph.
Now *this* is a new paragraph, because of the
previous empty line.The most important character with special meaning is the backslash (\). It’s used to indicate with instructions are special commands (like the \item command), and to use special characters like normal characters.
The backslash itself can be typed as regular text, as in “a \ backslash”, by typing a \\ backslash. By preceding any special character, such as the backslash itself, with another backslash, we indicate that we want that otherwise special character to appear in the output; this is called escaping.
In other to provide more than simple text, but at the same time keep the input readable in simple text editors and compatible with version control systems like git, the backslash (\) can be used to denote calls to some available commands. These range from text annotation commands (like \code or \emph) to more complex elements (like \figure or \begintable).
Commands can take (and usually require) arguments, and those can be typed wraped in braces (\emph{some important text}), when they are mandatory, or in brackets (\figure[small]), if they are optional.
Subscripts and superscripts, such as in 1fst or nth, can be added to text by using, respectively, the \sup and \sub commands. Some examples are show in table X.
| Result | Source |
|---|---|
| 1fst | 1\sup{fst} |
| nth | n\sub{th} |
| browntm | brown\sup{tm} |
| lazyish | lazy\sub{ish} |