What is the purpose of the span tag in HTML?

The span tag in HTML is used to manipulate an inline area of content separately. It serves as a container for inline elements, allowing for styling, manipulation, or applying specific attributes without altering the layout of the surrounding content. This is particularly useful when you want to apply styles, such as colors or fonts, to a specific section of text within a larger block of text without breaking it into a new line or block.

The span tag is inherently an inline element, making it ideal for scenarios where you need to highlight or modify small portions of text or inline elements within a paragraph or another inline context. This capability allows developers to maintain the flow of the document while also being able to customize specific segments.

In contrast, the other options focus on elements that do not align with the specific purpose of the span tag. For instance, creating a block-level area is more suitable for tags like div, which encapsulates larger sections of markup. Grouping images effectively would typically utilize the figure or gallery techniques, rather than span. Lastly, the definition of table rows is specifically the function of the tr tag, which is distinct from the inline manipulation that span offers.