Tags vs. elements

HTML specifies a set of tags that identify structure and content type
tags are enclosed in < >

<img src="image.gif" /> specifies an image

most tags come in pairs, marking a beginning and ending

<title> and  </title> enclose the title of a page

an HTML element is an object enclosed by a pair of tags

<title>My Home Page</title> is a TITLE element

<b>This text appears bold.</b> is a BOLD element

<p>Part of this text is <b>bold</b>.</p>
is a PARAGRAPH element that contains a BOLD element