<em> is semantic, it means "emphasis" the default style for that in most browsers is italic. <i> is stylistic, it means "render this text in italics". for peo

<em> is semantic, it means "emphasis" the default style for that in most browsers is italic. <i> is stylistic, it means "render this text in italics". for people eager to separate meaning from presentation it's a non-trivial difference.