CSS pseudo-class - :nth-child()

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CSS :nth-child() pseudo-class selects elements based on their position among the children of their parent element. The :nth-child() pseudo-class takes an argument that can be a number, a keyword, or a mathematical expression.

Syntax

:nth-child(<nth> [of <complex-selector-list>]?) {
   /* ... */
}
When using the :nth-child() CSS pseudo-class, the child count includes all sibling children of any element type, but only elements that match the other components of the selector will be selected.

Possible Values

  • odd − This value selects all odd-numbered child elements such as, 1,3,5..etc.

  • even − This value elects all even-numbered child elements such as, 2,4,6...etc.

  • functional notation (<an+b>) − This value selects every an+b-th child element from its parent container, Where "a" is a positive integer, and "n" is a counter variable that starts from 0. "b" is another positive integer.

Following table describes a list of CSS selectors and their descriptions:

Selector Description
tr:nth-child(odd) or tr:nth-last-child(2n+1) All odd rows in an HTML table.
tr:nth-child(even) or tr:nth-last-child(2n) All even rows in an HTML table.
:nth-child(7) Selects the seventh element.
:nth-child(5n) Selects elements that are multiples of 5, such as the 5th, 10th, 15th, and so on.
:nth-child(n+6) Selects all elements starting with the sixth element.
:nth-child(3n+4) Selects elements that are multiples of 3 plus 4, such as the 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, and so on.
:nth-child(-n+3) Selects the first three elements.
p:nth-child(n) Selects all <p> elements that are in a group of siblings.
p:nth-child(1) or p:nth-child(0n+1) Selects all <p> elements that are the first child of their parent element.
p:nth-child(n+8):nth-child(-n+15) Selects the eighth to fifteenth <p> elements of a group of sibling elements.

CSS :nth-child Example

Here is an example of how to select and style only paragraph elements −

<html>
<head>
<style>
   p, em {
      display: inline-block;
      border: 3px solid black; 
      margin: 5px; 
      padding: 5px; 
   }
   .box1 p:nth-child(2n+1),
   .box2 p:nth-child(2n+1),
   .box3 p:nth-of-type(2n + 1) {
      background-color: pink;
      color: blue;
   }
</style>
</head>
<body>
   <h4>Styling all odd-numbered (1,3,5,7) paragraphs with a pink background and blue font color.</h4>
   <div class="box1">
      <p>Orange</p>
      <p>Apple</p>
      <p>Mango</p>
      <p>Grapes</p>
      <p>Banana</p>
      <p>Watermelon</p>
      <p>Cheery</p>
      <p>Pear</p>
   </div>

   <h4>Styling all odd-numbered paragraphs (1, 3, 7, etc.) with a pink background and blue font color, except for sentence 5, which is not a paragraph element.</h4>
   <div class="box2">
      <p>Orange</p>
      <p>Apple</p>
      <p>Mango</p>
      <p>Grapes</p>
      <em>Banana</em>
      <p>Watermelon</p>
      <p>Cheery</p>
      <p>Pear</p>
   </div>
   <h4>Styling paragraphs (1, 4, 6, 8 ) with a pink background and blue except sentence 3 because it's not a paragraph element.</h4>
   <div class="box3">
      <p>Orange</p>
      <p>Apple</p>
      <em>Mango</em>
      <p>Grapes</p>
      <p>Banana</p>
      <p>Watermelon</p>
      <p>Cheery</p>
      <p>Pear</p>
   </div>
</body>
</html>

CSS :nth-child() - List Example

Here is an example of how to style the li elements in an ol list −

<html>
<head>
<style>
   li:nth-child(1) {
      font-weight: bold;
      color: red;
   }
   li:nth-child(3n+4){
      background-color: pink;
   }
   li:nth-child(n+6){
      font-weight: bold;
   }
</style>
</head>
<body>
   <p>Styling first list as bold and red.</p>
   <p>Styling every third list item starting with the fourth list item with a pink background.</p>
   <p>Styling all list items from the sixth list item onwards as bold.</p>
   <ol>
      <li>Item 1</li>
      <li>Item 2</li>
      <li>Item 3</li>
      <li>Item 4</li>
      <li>Item 5</li>
      <li>Item 6</li>
      <li>Item 7</li>
      <li>Item 8</li>
      <li>Item 9</li>
      <li>Item 10</li>
   </ol>
</body>
</html>

CSS :nth-child() - <selector>

Syntax for the:nth-child() pseudo-class with the of <selector> element is as follows:

li:nth-child(even of .fruits) {
   /* Your styles here */
}

Moving the selector li.fruits outside of the function will select all li elements that have the class fruits, regardless of their position in the list of children.

li.fruits: nth-child(-n + 3);

Here is an example of how to use :nth-child(even of .fruits) pseudo-class. This selects all even child elements of the .fruits element −

<html>
<head>
<style>
   ul {
      list-style-type: none;
   }
   li {
      display: inline-block;
      border: 3px solid black; 
      margin: 5px; 
      padding: 5px; 
   }
   .fruits {
      background-color: pink;
   }
   li:nth-child(even of .fruits) {
      font-weight: bold;
      color: blue;
   }
</style>
</head>
<body>
   <h3>Selects all even-numbered child elements of the class .fruits.</h3>
   <ul>
      <li>Orange</li>
      <li class="fruits">Apple</li>
      <li class="fruits">Mango</li>
      <li class="fruits">Grapes</li>
      <li class="fruits">Banana</li>
      <li>Watermelon</li>
      <li class="fruits">Cheery</li>
      <li class="fruits">Pear</li>
   </ul>
</body>
</html>

CSS :nth-child() - <selector> vs <selector> nth child

Here is an example of how to use :nth-child() pseudo-class to select elements based on their position among their siblings, relative to another element −

<html>
<head>
<style>
   ul {
      list-style-type: none;
   }
   li {
      display: inline-block;
      border: 3px solid black; 
      margin: 5px; 
      padding: 5px; 
   }
   .fruits {
      background-color: pink;
   }
   ul.list1 > li:nth-child(-n + 2 of .fruits) {
      color: blue;
   }

   ul.list2 > li.fruits:nth-child(-n + 4) {
      color: blue;
   }
</style>
</head>
<body>
   <p>Styling the first two child elements (with .fruits class) in the list.</p>
   <ul class="list1">
      <li>Orange</li>
      <li class="fruits">Apple</li>
      <li>Mango</li>
      <li class="fruits">Grapes</li>
      <li class="fruits">Banana</li>
      <li>Watermelon</li>
      <li>Cheery</li>
      <li class="fruits">Pear</li>
   </ul>
   <p>Select the first four child elements that are both .fruits elements and in the .list2 list.</p>
   <ul class="list2">
      <li class="fruits">Orange</li>
      <li>Apple</li>
      <li class="fruits">Mango</li>
      <li>Grapes</li>
      <li>Banana</li>
      <li class="fruits">Watermelon</li>
      <li>Cheery</li>
      <li class="fruits">Pear</li>
   </ul>
</body>
</html>

CSS :nth-child() - Selector To Fix Table Strips

Here is an example of how to use the :nth-child() pseudo-class to style even rows in a table, even if some of the rows are hidden −

<html>
<head>
<style>
   table {
      margin: 20px;
   }
   .even-rows > tbody > tr:nth-child(even) {
      background-color: pink;
   }
   .even-rows-hidden > tbody > tr:nth-child(even of :not([hidden])) {
      background-color: pink;
   }
</style>
</head>
<body>
   <p>Selector selects all even rows in the tbody of a table.</p>
   <table class="even-rows">
      <thead>
      <tr>
         <th>First Names</th>
         <th>Last Names</th>
      </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
         <tr>
            <td>Jhon</td>
            <td>Sean</td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
            <td>Rocky</td>
            <td>Luis</td>
         </tr>
         <tr hidden>
            <td>Oliver</td>
            <td>David</td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
            <td>Marry</td>
            <td>Alamnd</td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
            <td>Dora</td>
            <td>Ann</td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
            <td>Tonny</td>
            <td>Rai</td>
         </tr>
      </tbody>
   </table>
   <p>Selector selects all even rows in the tbody of a table, but skips any rows that are hidden.</p>
   <table class="even-rows-hidden">
      <thead>
         <tr>
            <th>First Names</th>
            <th>Last Names</th>
         </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
         <tr>
            <td>Jhon</td>
            <td>Sean</td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
            <td>Rocky</td>
            <td>Luis</td>
         </tr>
         <tr hidden>
            <td>Oliver</td>
            <td>David</td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
            <td>Marry</td>
            <td>Alamnd</td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
            <td>Dora</td>
            <td>Ann</td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
            <td>Tonny</td>
            <td>Rai</td>
         </tr>
      </tbody>
   </table>
</body>
</html>
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