Marking Paragraphs

The <P> element marks a block of text as a paragraph -- the tag <P> marks the beginning of the paragraph, while the tag </P> marks the end of a paragraph. The end tag, however, is optional, as a paragraph is automatically ended when you start another paragraph, or when you start a heading, list, table or form.

For example, the above text was marked up as follows:

  <P> The <CODE>&lt;P&gt;</CODE> element marks a 
  block of text as a paragraph -- the tag 
  <CODE>&lt;P&gt;</CODE>
  marks the beginning of the paragraph, while the tag
  <CODE>&lt;/P&gt;</CODE> marks the end of a paragraph. 
  The end tag, however, is optional, as a paragraph is 
  automatically ended when you start another paragraph, 
  or when you start a heading, list, table or 
  form.</P>

Changes for HTML 3: Paragraph Alignment

HTML 3 proposed that paragraph elements take the ALIGN attributes to control the alignment of text. More specifically:

ALIGN = "left" | "center" | "right" | "justify"

ALIGN controls the alignment of text within the paragraph.

Left and right alignment flush the text with the left and right margins, respectively.
Center alignment centers the text.
Justify should left and right justify the text.