# Apostrophe vs. Accent aigu
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [July 20, 2020, 6:45am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672 "2020-07-20T06:45:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@WolfSt](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/WolfSt)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2020, 6:45am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/1 "2020-07-20T06:45:26Z")
I recently discovered that it is quite hard to discern an apostrophe (') from an accent aigu (´) in the default font. My sight is not the best, but this may also apply to others. However, this discrimination is important, as many online tagging resources (most notable "hitparade.ch") issue an error if the accent is found, or simply do not work. Unfortunately many pre-tagged files use the accent (I´m lucky if I´m catchin´ them all).
Confusing those two may also be at the bottom of many complaints about weird behavior of apostrophed titles, that Florian could not verify.
Suggestion: 1) Allow for a sizable, customizable Font in MP3Tag.
2) integrate an automatic change from accent to apostrophe into the "Schreibweise ändern" feature.
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2020, 6:56am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/2 "2020-07-20T06:56:30Z")
> [@WolfSt](#):
>
> 1. integrate an automatic change from accent to apostrophe into the "Schreibweise ändern" feature.
You can easily find files with ` or ´
Filter for e.g.
title HAS ´
or
title HAS `
and then create an action group with 2 actions, one to replace the aigu and one to replace the grave accent with an apostrophe.
---
### Author:  [@WolfSt](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/WolfSt)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2020, 7:05am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/3 "2020-07-20T07:05:27Z")
Greetings!
That was quick 🙂
Thanks for the input!
Yes, I understand (although "action group" is still a bit above me).
But you would need to do more. Albums, even artists sometimes have accents. So --- even if you can find your own solution, a pre-configured one would be helpful
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2020, 7:10am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/4 "2020-07-20T07:10:23Z")
> [@WolfSt](#):
>
> a pre-configured one would be helpful
Action groups have the discrete charme of being recyclable.
You invest the effort once and then you can re-use them again and again, just like a pre-configured solution.
If this is all about "I don't want to invest that effort", well ....
On the other hand: it is allowed (and actually encouraged) to post one's own solutions. So if you have the time, go ahead and use MP3tag's functions (which already there) to solve your issue - and then participate yet another time in the forum and publish it.
Somebody else already did:
> [@Pls help: Script to remove accent](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/pls-help-script-to-remove-accent/7503/):
>
> Hi there, Can someone help me to create a script to change this: do?.i cho`em de^'n to doi cho em den Thanks so much
---
### Author:  [@WolfSt](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/WolfSt)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2020, 7:46am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/5 "2020-07-20T07:46:07Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#):
>
> If this is all about "I don't want to invest that effort", well ....
No, not my standpoint. I fully understand taking issue with that kind of attitude - also with people too lazy to read help files and forums.
But there is quite a steep learning curve for newcomers like me. I'm just not yet at the point to see and understand all the options.
I will a some point eventually get there, but I know many others will not. Tagging files is needed by almost anyone, and many don't even understand what a variable is and must rely on built-in automatisms that they can use. It is with that in mind that I have mentioned these feature suggestions.
Anyway, a major part of my post intended to alert people to the possibility of not naming those two characters correctly and mixing them up.
Users in the US even argue that the accent was the right thing to use.
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2020, 8:01am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/6 "2020-07-20T08:01:19Z")
> [@WolfSt](#):
>
> But there is quite a steep learning curve for newcomers like me.
Agreed. But there is help. E.g. here is a post on how to create an new action:
> [@Actions and batch-operations](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/actions-and-batch-operations/967/2):
>
> How to create a new action? First, create a new action group via Actions \> [Actions] Actions or Alt + 6. Then, click on the button [New] New and give your action group an expressive name, e.g., "All tag fields Upper Case". This action group can be applied to the selected files after you have added one or more actions to it. Now, you can create a new action in your action group via the button [New] New and choose the desired action type from the list. At the moment the following action types …
To create an action group, select at least 1 file
In this case create the action group "Replace Accents"
In the action group, click "new" to create a new the action
Select the type "Replace"
Field: \_TAG
Search string: `
Replace string: '
Save the configuration with OK.
Now copy this action and set as
Search string: ´
The rest stays the same.
Close the action group by clicking ok until all dialogues are closed.
Now apply a filter and select the files, run the action group and see whether it worked by toggling the filter with F3.
---
### Author:  [@vilsen](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/vilsen)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/7 "2020-07-20T15:55:45Z")
> [@WolfSt](#):
>
> Anyway, a major part of my post intended to alert people to the possibility of not naming those two characters correctly and mixing them up.
> Users in the US even argue that the accent was the right thing to use.
I agree that the misuse of accents is indeed irritating. I hope it's ok to post a small guide here, since this isn't clear to everyone:
```
INCORRECT CORRECT
I´m in love I'm in love
It´s allright It's allright
Rock ´n´ roll Rock 'n' roll
Mary´s house Mary's house
```
Basically, accents (to the left) should not be used to mark omission or possession - only use apostrophes for that.
A background to the confusion: [Apostrophe and acute accent confusion](https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/ucs/apostrophe.html)
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### Author:  [@WolfSt](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/WolfSt)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2020, 4:24pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/8 "2020-07-20T16:24:06Z")
A big "thank you" to you for pointing me to the right spot. It's all there as usual, but you need to know what to search for.
Action groups are no longer an unknown - thanks to you - and I understand the concept now.
However, in an attempt to simplify my problem, I have reproduced this in the Tag -\> Tag conversion and run into problems. I think it is better to make this an additional posting here. Will do
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### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2020, 10:02pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/9 "2020-07-20T22:02:04Z")
> [@vilsen](#):
>
> I hope it's ok to post a small guide here, since this isn't clear to everyone:
It depends on where you use this apostrophes. If you want to contribute for example to MusicBrainz, you should follow their rules:
> Use of basic ASCII punctuation characters such as ' and " is allowed, but typographically-correct punctuation (such as ’ for the English apostrophe) is preferred.
Source: [Style / Miscellaneous - MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/doc/Style/Miscellaneous)
---
### Author:  [@vilsen](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/vilsen)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/10 "2020-07-21T14:10:33Z")
> [@LyricsLover](#):
>
> It depends on where you use this apostrophes.
Just to avoid any confusion for future readers:
1. Yes, there are variants of the apostrophe.
2. Nevertheless, an apostrophe is an apostrophe and should never be substituted by an accent.
You did not contradict that in any way, but I just want to be overly clear since this is so often misunderstood.
> [@LyricsLover](#):
>
> If you want to contribute for example to MusicBrainz, you should follow their rules:
Yes, and since there are variants of the apostrophe MusicBrainz accept both ASCII and typographic ones, which in reality is the only thing they can do. I only wish that when they opt to say that one is preferred, they would go for the basic ASCII. In the context of metadata/tagging I think simplicity and uniformity should be encouraged when there are choices.
---
### Author:  [@nohart](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/nohart)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 5:17pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/11 "2022-12-30T17:17:35Z")
I am so glad I found this topic! I have found this exact same issue. It causes problems in VLC when it tries to read the m3u playlist and throws an error and wont play. It is a subtle change to the eye and hard to pick up.
So when I am renaming my files in my collection and creating m3u playlist I always open them up to make sure the m3u can be played. I have done just as suggested here and created a "replace" action.
What brought me here was I was looking into $validate to find out what it does. I was trying to see if there was a way to correct this issue where the filename and title tag can be corrected programmatically. So far all I have found to do is run my replace action.
There are other invalid characters I have run into over the past that create the same issue with m3u playlists. It seems that that some programs such as VLC don't play nice with these invalid characters and throw errors.
To be honest I didn't even know that this "other" Apostrophe was called an Accent aigu.
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### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 5:29pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/12 "2022-12-30T17:29:03Z")
> [@nohart](#):
>
> I was looking into $validate to find out what it does
From the [scripting help](https://docs.mp3tag.de/scripting/#string-functions):
> [@nohart](#):
>
> There are other invalid characters
You must distinguish between "invalid" for your operating system (like invalid characters for filenames in "Windows 10") and "invalid" for 3rd party application.
> [@nohart](#):
>
> It seems that that some programs such as VLC don't play nice
Would be helpful if you could share your findings for such characters here with us. 👍
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### Author:  [@nohart](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/nohart)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/13 "2022-12-30T18:07:25Z")
Well off the top of my head 2 characters that VLC doesn't like in the m3u playlist are, Pound - `#` and Accent Aigu - `´`
I am on windows 11. Its not the operating system it may just be VLC. I will try to open a m3u that throws an error next time in another player and see if I get the same error.
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### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 6:12pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/14 "2022-12-30T18:12:16Z")
Thank you for your answer.
Please include special characters here in this forum with backticks ` (similiar to apostrophe looking characters from top left to lower right). Or you can select the single characters and press the
[sign in the toolbar](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/hints-for-asking-support-requests/56190#use-formatting-when-necessary-4) for your answer to enclose them as code.
I assume, you mean the 3 characters `£` and `#` and `´`, correct?
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### Author:  [@nohart](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/nohart)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/15 "2022-12-30T18:31:32Z")
Ok sorry. I corrected the post.
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 6:34pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/16 "2022-12-30T18:34:51Z")
> [@nohart](#):
>
> and Accent Aigu - `´`
I would have considered marauding accents to be real typos anyway.
So the question is who is to blame for the found behaviour.
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### Author:  [@nohart](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/nohart)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2022, 6:48pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/17 "2022-12-30T18:48:02Z")
Exactly, I am thinking it is VLC that doesn't like certain characters.
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### Author:  [@DataCleaner](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DataCleaner)
#### Post date: [March 15, 2024, 4:08am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/18 "2024-03-15T04:08:43Z")
This issue has caused sorting order issues that were very hard to "sort out". It's hard to see but easy to fix once one has a filter/replace routine. But yes, ideally, they would be easier to see visually.
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### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2024, 4:09am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/apostrophe-vs-accent-aigu/49672/19 "2024-04-14T04:09:38Z")
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