The following type style commands are supported by LaTeX. Note that LaTeX2e differs on this point, having instead a Font Selection scheme, but the following should still work (certainly in 2.09 mode).
These are LaTeX delcarations (with the exception of \emph), i.e., they do not act on an argument, but change the way LaTeX prints the following text. The scope of a declaration is ended by a right brace (}) or an \end{} command whose matching left brace ({) or \begin{} precedes the declaration.
Thus, for a short piece of italics or bold-face text one would use
This is {\it italics} and this is {\bf in boldface}.
which would be set as "This is italics and this is in boldface.
In LaTeX2e the \emph command is considered more suitable for short stretches of emphasized text. A typical use would be
This is \emph{emphasized text}.
See also Typeface Sizes
LaTeX2e Font Selection
See also Math fonts and styles
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