If you have changed your view options so you can see all nonprinting characters, then a hard return appears on your screen as a paragraph mark (a backwards P), and a soft return appears as a down-and-left pointing arrow. Hard returns are used to signify the end of a paragraph, whereas soft returns simply signify the end of a line. The other way to end a line is to press Shift+Enter this results in a soft return, sometimes called a line break or a newline character, being entered in the document. This action (pressing Enter) indicates that you have reached the end of the paragraph and want to start a new one. This results in a hard return being entered in the document. The first way is to press the Enter key where you want the line to end. In these instances, you can end a line in either of two ways. There may be times, however, when you want to end a line before you get to the right margin. When you set up your page margins, Word is programmed to know that when you reach the right margin your text should automatically wrap to the next line. To adjust the top or bottom margins, hover your cursor over the inner border of the gray area of the vertical ruler until your cursor becomes a double arrow. In Word, however, you do not have to do this. Horizontal ruler (Cursor enlarged to show detail.) Slide the double-arrow cursor to the left or right to adjust the margin. This signifies you are done with one line and ready to begin the next. When you use a typewriter, you press the Return, or Enter, key at the end of each line.
