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English does not use accent marks basically. However, some foreign names and nouns (like Dalí, Gaudí, café, fiancé) contain accents symbols.

Then, the question is "is it ok to write without accents marks?".

Example 1. I like Dalí and Gaudí. I talked about them with her fiancé at a café. Example 2. I like Dali and Gaudi. I talked about them with her fiance at a cafe. Example 3. I like Dalí and Gaudi. I talked about them with her fiance at a café.

Is Example 3 natural?

Thank you.

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  • "Will Dalí be angry?" - Obviously there's no universal rule for how different people will react to seeing their name spelt without accents.
    – nnnnnn
    Commented Sep 10, 2021 at 4:39
  • You’ll need to check with each individual. Some might be fine with it; others may be offended. Names are a personal matter that is somewhat separate from language considerations.
    – Lawrence
    Commented Sep 10, 2021 at 4:39
  • Dali and Gaudi are both dead, so it's irrelevant how they'd feel. For celebrities, do whatever you please; that's what celebrities are for. Consult anyone else you know personally that you think might have a preference you want to know about. Consider the yumuşak ge in Turkish president Erdoğan's name; he's in the news a lot, and by now all the news readers know it's silent, but they often don't put the haček over the g in print to mark it. If you hear someone pronounce the G, change the station.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Sep 11, 2021 at 15:59
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    Does this answer your question? Diacritics and non-English letters in anglicized loan words: keep 'em, dump 'em, italicize the words, or what? See also Should accents be used in French words when used in English?
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Sep 11, 2021 at 16:06

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English does not use accent marks basically

You're rather incorrect there; quite a few English loanwords ('borrowed' words) do possess diacritical marks , for example: naïve & entrée. However, it is completely acceptable (for everyday situations) to drop the accents.

Certain names — which are proper nouns — are not usually considered English words (& hence not bound to English grammar rules) and whether or not you should accent somebody's name depends on how they will accept it. Accents are largely a part of someone's name and you ought to, if possible, accent it.

There is no reason why you should not do that (unless you're unable to), because it's essentially almost equivalent to misspelling.

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    Also important to note is that some languages (e.g. German) have alternative spellings for some diacritics (e.g. Mueller instead of Müller), but at this day and age when you can insert symbols in your text without being restricted by typewriting or printing blocks, spelling someone's name correctly should be a non-issue
    – Juliana Karasawa Souza
    Commented Sep 10, 2021 at 8:33
  • Names etc written in different alphabets are regularly transliterated, names are sometimes anglicised (etc) as in 'Florence' (cf 'Londres' in French), so dropping of accents does not present a moral issue. This is purely orthographic style, not a matter of propriety.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Sep 11, 2021 at 16:14

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