Some things in HTML are big blocks and some are smaller! It's not quite that easy but the two types are:
- block elements:
- by default have a line break before and after them (they appear on a new line)
- take up the width of the page (unless you change that with width settings)
- include things like paragraphs (P), DIVs, tables and lists like this one
- in-line elements on the other hand:
- fit into the flow of the text or other content
- take up only enough width for their content (unless you change that)
- include things like the SPAN tag, links (A) or images
For example this paragraph is a block element and runs from the left margin to the right margin of the DIV it is in. By contrast this link (it doesn't lead anywhere!) is only part of a line of text. The paragraph is a block element and the link is an in-line element. The paragraph below has been coloured red to show you that it takes the full width of the DIV it is in even though it is a very short paragraph:
A very short paragraph.
This will become more relevant when you learn CSS.
So what?
Block elements can contain other block elements or in-line elements. You should not put block elements inside in-line elements. In some browsers it may work (sometimes) but it is not supposed to happen.
