S With an Accent
S takes three accented forms in common use: š (caron/háček), ś (acute), and ş (cedilla). Every one is a real Unicode character, so it copies and pastes exactly like plain text — no special font needed.
- š caron/háček — Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Croatian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian
- ś acute — Polish
- ş cedilla — Turkish, and (in practice, though technically distinct) Romanian
Which Accent Does S Use, and in What Language?
Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Croatian, and the Baltic languages use š to represent a “sh” sound — the same sound English spells with two letters, these languages spell with one accented one. Škoda (the carmaker) and Šárka both open with it.
Polish ś marks a softer, palatalized “sh”-like sound, distinct from both plain s and the unaccented sz digraph Polish also uses for the harder “sh” sound. Środa (Wednesday) and Wojciech Kilar’s surname both carry it.
Turkish ş also represents a “sh” sound — şeker (sugar) and şehir (city) are common examples. Romanian uses what looks like the same letter, but there’s a real technical wrinkle worth knowing about (below).
Where S-Accent Confusion Happens
Turkish ş and Romanian ş look identical in most fonts but are technically different Unicode characters: Turkish ş is “S WITH CEDILLA” (U+015F), while Romanian ș is officially “S WITH COMMA BELOW” (U+0219), standardized separately by Unicode specifically because Romanian linguists objected to the cedilla form as historically inaccurate for their language. Many fonts render both marks identically anyway, so the distinction rarely causes a visible problem — but it’s a genuine case of one visual accent mark actually being two different underlying characters depending on the language.
Unlike á, é, í, ó, ú, ñ, ü, and ç, none of S’s three accented forms have a simple legacy Alt-code or Option-key shortcut on a standard US keyboard layout — they simply weren’t included in the older Windows-1252 codepage those shortcuts are built on. That makes copy-paste the genuinely practical option for š, ś, and ş, not just the convenient one.
How to Type š, ś or ş
- On Windows — there’s no simple Alt+numpad code for these on a standard US layout. Use Word’s Unicode input instead: type the hex code (0161 for š, 015B for ś, 015F for ş) then press Alt+X immediately after, or switch to a Czech/Polish/Turkish keyboard layout in Windows Settings.
- On Mac — a standard US layout has no built-in shortcut either. Use the Character Viewer (Control+Command+Space) and search “s caron,” “s acute,” or “s cedilla,” or switch to the relevant language’s keyboard layout.
- Fastest option — open the Accent Letters Generator, search “s accent,” and click to copy. No keyboard layout switching needed.
Common Words With an Accented S
škola, Škoda, środa, świat, şeker, şehir, paşa.
FAQ
Is š just a stylized version of s?
No — in Czech, Slovak, and related languages, š represents a completely different sound (“sh”) from plain s, and swapping it for a plain s changes how the word is meant to be pronounced.
Why doesn’t š have a simple Alt-code like é or ñ does?
Alt-code shortcuts like 0233 for é rely on the older Windows-1252 codepage, which only included the accented letters common in Western European languages. š, ś, and ş belong to Central/Eastern European and Turkish character sets that codepage never covered.
Are Turkish ş and Romanian ș really different characters?
Technically yes — Unicode assigns them separate code points (cedilla vs. comma below), even though most fonts display them identically. In practice this rarely matters for reading, but it’s a real distinction at the character level.
Will š, ś and ş display correctly everywhere?
Yes — all three are standard Unicode characters supported on every modern device and browser, no special font required.
Does the Accent Letters Generator include all three S variants, upper and lower case?
Yes — the Accent Letters Generator includes Š, š, Ś, ś, Ş and ş, alongside every other commonly accented Latin letter.
More Accented Letters
Browse N With an Accent, C With an Accent, or the full Accent Letters Generator.
