:nth-child()
Quick Summary for :nth-child
:nth-child()
CSS pseudo-class matches elements based on their position among a group of siblings.
Code Usage for :nth-child
/* Selects the second <li> element in a list */ li:nth-child(2) { color: lime; } /* Selects every fourth element among any group of siblings */ :nth-child(4n) { color: lime; }
More Details for :nth-child
:nth-child()
The :nth-child()
CSS pseudo-class matches elements based on their position among a group of siblings.
/* Selects the second <li> element in a list */ li:nth-child(2) { color: lime; } /* Selects every fourth element among any group of siblings */ :nth-child(4n) { color: lime; }
Syntax
:nth-child()
takes a single argument that describes a pattern for matching element indices in a list of siblings. Element indices are 1-based.
Keyword values
odd
Represents elements whose numeric position in a series of siblings is odd: 1, 3, 5, etc.
even
Represents elements whose numeric position in a series of siblings is even: 2, 4, 6, etc.
Functional notation
<An+B>
Represents elements in a list whose indices match those found in a custom pattern of numbers, defined by An+B
, where:
A
is an integer step size, B
is an integer offset, n
is all nonnegative integers, starting from 0. It can be read as the An+Bth element of a list.
Formal syntax
:nth-child( <nth> [ of <complex-selector-list> ]? )where
<nth> = <an-plus-b> | even | odd<complex-selector-list> = <complex-selector>#
where
<complex-selector> = <compound-selector> [ <combinator>? <compound-selector> ]*
where
<compound-selector> = [ <type-selector>? <subclass-selector>* [ <pseudo-element-selector> <pseudo-class-selector>* ]* ]!<combinator> = '>' | '+' | '~' | [ '||' ]
where
<type-selector> = <wq-name> | <ns-prefix>? '*'<subclass-selector> = <id-selector> | <class-selector> | <attribute-selector> | <pseudo-class-selector><pseudo-element-selector> = ':' <pseudo-class-selector><pseudo-class-selector> = ':' <ident-token> | ':' <function-token> <any-value> ')'
where
<wq-name> = <ns-prefix>? <ident-token><ns-prefix> = [ <ident-token> | '*' ]? | <id-selector> = <hash-token><class-selector> = '.' <ident-token><attribute-selector> = '[' <wq-name> ']' | '[' <wq-name> <attr-matcher> [ <string-token> | <ident-token> ] <attr-modifier>? ']'
where
<attr-matcher> = [ '~' | | | '^' | '$' | '*' ]? '='<attr-modifier> = i | s
Examples
Example selectors
tr:nth-child(odd)
or tr:nth-child(2n+1)
Represents the odd rows of an HTML table: 1, 3, 5, etc.
tr:nth-child(even)
or tr:nth-child(2n)
Represents the even rows of an HTML table: 2, 4, 6, etc.
:nth-child(7)
Represents the seventh element.
:nth-child(5n)
Represents elements 5 [=5×1], 10 [=5×2], 15 [=5×3], etc. The first one to be returned as a result of the formula is 0 [=5x0], resulting in a no-match, since the elements are indexed from 1, whereas n
starts from 0. This may seem weird at first, but it makes more sense when the B
part of the formula is >0
, like in the next example.
:nth-child(n+7)
Represents the seventh and all following elements: 7 [=0+7], 8 [=1+7], 9 [=2+7], etc.
:nth-child(3n+4)
Represents elements 4 [=(3×0)+4], 7 [=(3×1)+4], 10 [=(3×2)+4], 13 [=(3×3)+4], etc.
:nth-child(-n+3)
Represents the first three elements. [=-0+3, -1+3, -2+3]
p:nth-child(n)
Represents every <p>
element in a group of siblings. This selects the same elements as a simple p
selector (although with a higher specificity).
p:nth-child(1)
or p:nth-child(0n+1)
Represents every <p>
that is the first element in a group of siblings. This is the same as the :first-child
selector (and has the same specificity).
p:nth-child(n+8):nth-child(-n+15)
Represents the eighth through the fifteenth <p>
elements of a group of siblings.
Detailed example
HTML<h3><code>span:nth-child(2n+1)</code>, WITHOUT an <code><em></code> among the child elements.</h3> <p>Children 1, 3, 5, and 7 are selected.</p> <div class="first"> <span>Span 1!</span> <span>Span 2</span> <span>Span 3!</span> <span>Span 4</span> <span>Span 5!</span> <span>Span 6</span> <span>Span 7!</span> </div> <br> <h3><code>span:nth-child(2n+1)</code>, WITH an <code><em></code> among the child elements.</h3> <p>Children 1, 5, and 7 are selected.<br> 3 is used in the counting because it is a child, but it isn't selected because it isn't a <code><span></code>.</p> <div class="second"> <span>Span!</span> <span>Span</span> <em>This is an `em`.</em> <span>Span</span> <span>Span!</span> <span>Span</span> <span>Span!</span> <span>Span</span> </div> <br> <h3><code>span:nth-of-type(2n+1)</code>, WITH an <code><em></code> among the child elements.</h3> <p>Children 1, 4, 6, and 8 are selected.<br> 3 isn't used in the counting or selected because it is an <code><em></code>, not a <code><span></code>, and <code>nth-of-type</code> only selects children of that type. The <code><em></code> is completely skipped over and ignored.</p> <div class="third"> <span>Span!</span> <span>Span</span> <em>This is an `em`.</em> <span>Span!</span> <span>Span</span> <span>Span!</span> <span>Span</span> <span>Span!</span> </div>
CSS html { font-family: sans-serif; } span, div em { padding: 5px; border: 1px solid green; display: inline-block; margin-bottom: 3px; } .first span:nth-child(2n+1), .second span:nth-child(2n+1), .third span:nth-of-type(2n+1) { background-color: lime; }
ResultSpecifications
Specification |
---|
Selectors Level 4 # nth-child-pseudo |
See also
:nth-of-type
, :nth-last-child
Last modified: Dec 16, 2021, by MDN contributors
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