In Chapter 3, Phrasing and Flow HTML tags are used to define the meaning of the text. They also have a default way they are displayed. Flow elements usually form “building blocks” that stack upon one another and dictate height, and phrasing elements sit right next to each other and dictate width. Throughout this chapter we will be discussing what each of these elements mean within CSS. Keep in mind as you read that phrasing elements are always contained within flow elements and come flow elements are valid inside of other flow elements.

Learning Outcomes for this Chapter

Upon completion of the reading of this chapter and assignments found at the end, a student should be able to:

  • explain the relationship between content, border, margin, and padding in the CSS box model,
  • recall and use the most common CSS dimensional units,
  • set a margin and padding to an element,
  • add a border to an element,
  • use the descendant combinator in a style sheet to select specific elements,
  • use display to change a phrasing element to display like a flow or an inline flow element,
  • use text-align style to change the alignment of text elements.