--- title: "Markdown alphabetical list: letters and roman numerals" slug: markdown-alphabetical-list excerpt: "Markdown alphabetical list tests, pandoc version 3.8.3: the section Lettered lists with the fancy_lists extension quotes HTML from four reader settings." quickAnswer: "Under Letters and roman numerals in the CommonMark spec, spec search totals appear next to one control total and two extension listings. The section Lettered lists with the fancy_lists extension quotes pandoc output for a two-line lettered file from four reader settings. For i, ii and capital letters with a parenthesis, see Roman numerals and a closing parenthesis. Under A capital letter and a period, pandoc results for single and double spacing after the marker are listed. The section When h and i sit next to each other quotes the HTML for a file that runs from h to i. Under Example lists that keep counting, the markdown reader's output for (@) items is quoted. Four numbered steps, one with grep counts, are listed under Check a lettered list with pandoc." keyTakeaways: - "Spec line numbers for the ordered list marker, plus grep counts, appear in Letters and roman numerals in the CommonMark spec." - "Two-line lettered results for four reader settings appear in Lettered lists with the fancy_lists extension." - "Capital-letter test files with one space or two after the marker are run in A capital letter and a period." - "A two-line h and i test file, with its HTML, is shown in When h and i sit next to each other." - "HTML for (@) items split by a paragraph is quoted in Example lists that keep counting." publishedDate: 2026-10-20 dateModified: 2026-10-20 author: Bobby Huang cluster: B role: post status: published faq: - q: Does CommonMark have lettered lists? a: "Spec wording for the ordered list marker and grep counts are given in Letters and roman numerals in the CommonMark spec." - q: Can Markdown give me a lettered list? a: "Four settings, tried on one lettered file, are compared in Lettered lists with the fancy_lists extension." - q: Is i a letter or a roman numeral? a: "Pandoc output for a list that runs from h to i is quoted in When h and i sit next to each other." - q: Why did A. and B. stay as plain text? a: "Runs with one space and with two spaces after the capital letter are compared in A capital letter and a period." related: - markdown-numbered-lists - markdown-block-quotes-nested-lists - markdown-syntax-guide --- You want steps labeled a, b and c, or i, ii and iii, in a Markdown file. You type `a.` to open a line, and what comes out depends on which reader handles the file. In one test on macOS with pandoc version 3.8.3, a markdown alphabetical list, a roman-numeral list and a few corner cases went through several reader settings. Every result below lists the file and the reader flag, so a rerun is easy. The checks stop at pandoc's HTML output; no viewer was tested. ## Letters and roman numerals in the CommonMark spec Number markers, start numbers and the two delimiters are covered in the [numbered list guide](markdown-numbered-lists.md). This section asks a narrower thing: do the 0.31.2 rules allow anything besides digits as a marker? Its wording says digits. Lines 3810 and 3811 define an ordered list marker as a sequence of 1 to 9 arabic digits. Searching that file with case ignored found `roman` on 0 lines, `lowercase letter` on 0 lines and `alphabetic` on 0 lines. As a control, `ordered list` turned up on 14 lines under that search. Pandoc adds letters and roman numerals through its `fancy_lists` extension. In the listing that `pandoc --list-extensions=markdown` printed, the matching lines were `+example_lists`, `+fancy_lists` and `+startnum`. The `pandoc --list-extensions=commonmark` listing showed `-fancy_lists` and had no line for `startnum` or `example_lists`. ## Lettered lists with the fancy_lists extension The test file `list-alpha.md` holds two lines: ```markdown a. Open the file b. Save it ``` The `markdown` reader, run as `pandoc -f markdown -t html list-alpha.md`, printed: ```html
  1. Open the file
  2. Save it
``` Four reader settings, four results: - That list came from the `markdown` reader. - `pandoc -f commonmark+fancy_lists -t html list-alpha.md` gave the same `
    ` list. - `pandoc -f commonmark -t html list-alpha.md` returned `

    a. Open the file b. Save it

    `. - Removing the extension in `pandoc -f markdown-fancy_lists -t html list-alpha.md` gave that same one-paragraph line. The letters stayed out of the item text. Pandoc wrote the letter style as a `type` attribute and kept just the words inside each `
  1. `. In the two runs that lacked it, the second line joined the first, and both markers printed as text. ## Roman numerals and a closing parenthesis The file `list-roman.md` uses `i.` and `ii.`. A second file, `list-upper-paren.md`, uses capital letters with a closing parenthesis, `A)` and `B)`. - In the `markdown` reader, `list-roman.md` became `
      ` and `list-upper-paren.md` became `
        `, with two items in both lists. - `commonmark+fancy_lists` gave those same two `type` values. - Plain `commonmark` returned `

        i. Open the file ii. Save it

        ` and `

        A) Upper one B) Upper two

        `. - `markdown-fancy_lists` printed those same two paragraphs. The `
          ` tag carried no sign of the `)` delimiter that the source used. ## A capital letter and a period In these runs, swapping the parenthesis for a period made the spacing after the marker matter. The file `list-upper-dot.md` holds `A. Upper one` and `B. Upper two`, with one space after both markers. A copy named `list-upper-dot2.md` puts two spaces there. - With one space, `markdown`, `commonmark+fancy_lists` and plain `commonmark` all printed `

          A. Upper one B. Upper two

          `. - With two spaces, `markdown` and `commonmark+fancy_lists` returned `
            ` with two items. Plain `commonmark` kept the single paragraph. Capital roman numerals followed the same pattern in this test. The file `list-roman-upper.md` holds `I. Open the file` and `II. Save it` with one space, and those three settings printed `

            I. Open the file II. Save it

            `. Its two-space copy, `list-roman-upper2.md`, came out as `
              ` from `markdown` and `commonmark+fancy_lists`. The `A)` file in the roman numeral section had one space after its markers and still turned into a list. ## When h and i sit next to each other A lettered list that reaches `i` raises a question: letter nine, or roman one? The file `list-h-i.md` tests it: ```markdown h. Eighth step i. Ninth step ``` Both `markdown` and `commonmark+fancy_lists` returned `
                ` with two items. The `i.` line stayed in the lettered list that `h.` opened, in this run. Plain `commonmark` printed one paragraph, `

                h. Eighth step i. Ninth step

                `. Compare the earlier `list-roman.md` test. There, a list that opened with `i.` came out as `
                  `. ## Example lists that keep counting Pandoc's `example_lists` extension uses the `(@)` marker. The test file `list-example.md` holds two `(@)` items, a paragraph, then a third: ```markdown (@) First example. (@) Second example. Some text. (@) Third example. ``` Output from the `markdown` reader: ```html
                  1. First example.
                  2. Second example.

                  Some text.

                  1. Third example.
                  ``` The count carried past the paragraph, so the second list opened at 3. The other three settings, `commonmark+fancy_lists`, `markdown-fancy_lists` and plain `commonmark`, all printed `

                  (@) First example. (@) Second example.

                  `, then the paragraph, then `

                  (@) Third example.

                  `. A label can go inside the parentheses. In `list-example-label.md`, the first line is `(@good) Jane Doe signs.` and a later paragraph says `As (@good) shows, one line.` The `markdown` reader built a one-item example list and wrote that paragraph as `

                  As (1) shows, one line.

                  `. With `commonmark+fancy_lists`, both lines stayed as text with `(@good)` intact. ## Check a lettered list with pandoc When letters come out as plain text, test the list by itself in a small file. For a lettered list nested under a numbered step, see the [nested list and quote guide](markdown-block-quotes-nested-lists.md). 1. Print the lines with `cat list-alpha.md` to see the markers as typed. 2. Next, try the plain reader: `pandoc -f commonmark -t html list-alpha.md`. A single `

                  ` holding the letters means this reader built no list in this test. 3. Count list tags. `pandoc -f commonmark -t html list-alpha.md | grep -c '