# Soft line breaks

A regular line break (not in a code span or HTML tag) that is not preceded by two or more spaces or a backslash is parsed as a softbreak (opens new window). (A softbreak may be rendered in HTML either as a line ending (opens new window) or as a space. The result will be the same in browsers. In the examples here, a line ending (opens new window) will be used.)

Example 669

Markdown HTML Demo
foo
baz

<p>foo
baz</p>

Spaces at the end of the line and beginning of the next line are removed:

Example 670

Markdown HTML Demo
foo 
 baz

<p>foo
baz</p>

A conforming parser may render a soft line break in HTML either as a line break or as a space.
A renderer may also provide an option to render soft line breaks as hard line breaks.