What exactly is a "hard return"?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Columbia University
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<p>It's mentioned: "Please note, DO NOT use hard returns in your responses."
Does it mean that I'm allowed to use soft returns (shift+enter) instead, or the AOs just want every response is kept in one paragraph?</p>

<p>I tried soft returns, and even hard returns. They seemed to be both ok in PDFs for preview. Odd.</p>

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<p>i googled hard return a few hours ago.. and it means pressing enter</p>

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<p>lol Thank you, jhl!!!</p>

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<p>yeh I know hard return means pressing enter.
I just wonder whether it is allowed to use soft returns, which is pressing shift and enter. But soft returns and hard returns look just the same in PDFs.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_return[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_return&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_return[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_return&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>duno if this helps?</p>