The **`<span>`** [HTML](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML) element is a generic inline container for phrasing content, which does not inherently represent anything. It can be used to group elements for styling purposes (using the [`class`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes#class) or [`id`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes#id) attributes), or because they share attribute values, such as [`lang`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes#lang). It should be used only when no other semantic element is appropriate. `<span>` is very much like a [`div`](div!) element, but [`div`](div!) is a [block-level element](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Block-level_elements) whereas a `<span>` is an [inline element](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Inline_elements).