Python Keywords

Keywords in Python are reserved words that can not be used as a variable name, function name, or any other identifier.

List of Keywords in Python

Keyword	Description	Keyword	Description	Keyword	Description
and	It is a Logical Operator	False	Represents an expression that will result in not being true.	nonlocal	It is a non-local variable
as	It is used to create an alias name	finally	It is used with exceptions	not	It is a Logical Operator
assert	It is used for debugging	for	It is used to create Loop	or	It is a Logical Operator
break	Break out a Loop	from	To import specific parts of a module	pass	pass is used when the user doesn’t  want any code to execute
class	It is used to define a class	global	It is used to declare a global variable	raise	raise is used to raise exceptions or errors.
continue	Skip the next iteration of a loop	if	To create a Conditional Statement	return	return is used to end the execution
def	It is used to define the Function	import	It is used to import a module	True	Represents an expression that will result in true.
del	It is used to delete an object	is	It is used to test if two variables are equal	try	Try is used to handle errors
elif	Conditional statements, same as else-if	in	To check if a value is present in a Tuple, List, etc.	while	While Loop is used to execute a block of statements
else	It is used in a conditional statement	lambda	Used to create an anonymous function	with	with statement is used in exception handling
except	try-except is used to handle these errors	None	It represents a null value	yield	yield keyword is used to create a generator function

Get the List of all Python keywords

We can also get all the keyword names using the below code.

Python3

# Python code to demonstrate working of iskeyword()

# importing "keyword" for keyword operations
import keyword

# printing all keywords at once using "kwlist()"
print("The list of keywords is : ")
print(keyword.kwlist)

Output:

The list of keywords are: 

[‘False’, ‘None’, ‘True’, ‘and’, ‘as’, ‘assert’, ‘async’, ‘await’, ‘break’, ‘class’, ‘continue’, ‘def’, ‘del’, ‘elif’, ‘else’, ‘except’, ‘finally’, ‘for’, ‘from’, ‘global’, ‘if’, ‘import’, ‘in’, ‘is’, ‘lambda’, ‘nonlocal’, ‘not’, ‘or’, ‘pass’, ‘raise’, ‘return’, ‘try’, ‘while’, ‘with’, ‘yield’]

Let’s discuss each keyword in detail with the help of good examples.

True, False, None Keyword

• True: This keyword is used to represent a boolean true. If a statement is true, “True” is printed.
• False: This keyword is used to represent a boolean false. If a statement is false, “False” is printed. 
• None: This is a special constant used to denote a null value or a void. It’s important to remember, 0, any empty container(e.g. empty list) does not compute to None. 
  It is an object of its datatype – NoneType. It is not possible to create multiple None objects and can assign them to variables.

True, False, and None 

Python3

print(False == 0)
print(True == 1)

print(True + True + True)
print(True + False + False)

print(None == 0)
print(None == [])

Output

True
True
3
1
False
False

and, or, not, in, is

• and: This a logical operator in Python. “and” Return the first false value. If not found return last. The truth table for “and” is depicted below. 

3 and 0 return 0 

3 and 10 return 10 

10 or 20 or 30 or 10 or 70 returns 10 

The above statements might be a bit confusing to a programmer coming from a language like C where the logical operators always return boolean values(0 or 1). The following lines are straight from the Python docs explaining this:

The expression x and y first evaluates x; if x is false, its value is returned; otherwise, y is evaluated and the resulting value is returned.

The expression x or y first evaluates x; if x is true, its value is returned; otherwise, y is evaluated and the resulting value is returned.

Note that neither and nor restrict the value and type they return to False and True, but rather return the last evaluated argument. This is sometimes useful, e.g., if s is a string that should be replaced by a default value if it is empty, the expression s or ‘foo’ yields the desired value. Because not has to create a new value, it returns a boolean value regardless of the type of its argument (for example, not ‘foo’ produces False rather than ”.)

• or: This a logical operator in Python. “or” Return the first True value. if not found return last. The truth table for “or” is depicted below. 
  

3 or 0 returns 3 

3 or 10 returns 3 

0 or 0 or 3 or 10 or 0 returns 3 

• not: This logical operator inverts the truth value. The truth table for “not” is depicted below. 
• in: This keyword is used to check if a container contains a value. This keyword is also used to loop through the container.
• is: This keyword is used to test object identity, i.e to check if both the objects take the same memory location or not. 

Example: and, or, not, is and in keyword

Python

# showing logical operation
# or (returns True)
print(True or False)

# showing logical operation
# and (returns False)
print(False and True)

# showing logical operation
# not (returns False)
print(not True)

# using "in" to check
if 's' in 'geeksforgeeks':
    print("s is part of geeksforgeeks")
else:
    print("s is not part of geeksforgeeks")

# using "in" to loop through
for i in 'geeksforgeeks':
    print(i, end=" ")

print("\r")

# using is to check object identity
# string is immutable( cannot be changed once allocated)
# hence occupy same memory location
print(' ' is ' ')

# using is to check object identity
# dictionary is mutable( can be changed once allocated)
# hence occupy different memory location
print({} is {})

Output: 

True
False
False
s is part of geeksforgeeks
g e e k s f o r g e e k s 
True
False

Iteration Keywords – for, while, break, continue

• for: This keyword is used to control flow and for looping.
• while: Has a similar working like “for”, used to control flow and for looping.
• break: “break” is used to control the flow of the loop. The statement is used to break out of the loop and passes the control to the statement following immediately after loop.
• continue: “continue” is also used to control the flow of code. The keyword skips the current iteration of the loop but does not end the loop.

Example: For, while, break, continue keyword

Python3

# Using for loop
for i in range(10):

    print(i, end=" ")

    # break the loop as soon it sees 6
    if i == 6:
        break

print()

# loop from 1 to 10
i = 0
while i < 10:

    # If i is equals to 6,
    # continue to next iteration
    # without printing
    if i == 6:
        i += 1
        continue
    else:
        # otherwise print the value
        # of i
        print(i, end=" ")

    i += 1

Output

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 
0 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 

Conditional keywords – if, else, elif

• if : It is a control statement for decision making. Truth expression forces control to go in “if” statement block.
• else : It is a control statement for decision making. False expression forces control to go in “else” statement block.
• elif : It is a control statement for decision making. It is short for “else if“

Example: if, else, and elif keyword

Python3

# Python program to illustrate if-elif-else ladder
#!/usr/bin/python

i = 20
if (i == 10):
    print("i is 10")
elif (i == 20):
    print("i is 20")
else:
    print("i is not present")

Output

i is 20

Note: For more information, refer to out Python if else Tutorial.

def

def keyword is used to declare user defined functions.

Example: def keyword

Python3

# def keyword
def fun():
    print("Inside Function")


fun()

Output

Inside Function

Return Keywords – Return, Yield

• return : This keyword is used to return from the function.
• yield : This keyword is used like return statement but is used to return a generator.

Example: Return and Yield Keyword

Python3

# Return keyword
def fun():
    S = 0

    for i in range(10):
        S += i
    return S


print(fun())

# Yield Keyword


def fun():
    S = 0

    for i in range(10):
        S += i
        yield S


for i in fun():
    print(i)

Output

45
0
1
3
6
10
15
21
28
36
45

class

class keyword is used to declare user defined classes.

Example: Class Keyword

Python3

# Python3 program to
# demonstrate instantiating
# a class


class Dog:

    # A simple class
    # attribute
    attr1 = "mammal"
    attr2 = "dog"

    # A sample method
    def fun(self):
        print("I'm a", self.attr1)
        print("I'm a", self.attr2)


# Driver code
# Object instantiation
Rodger = Dog()

# Accessing class attributes
# and method through objects
print(Rodger.attr1)
Rodger.fun()

Output

mammal
I'm a mammal
I'm a dog

Note: For more information, refer to our Python Classes and Objects Tutorial .

With

with keyword is used to wrap the execution of block of code within methods defined by context manager. This keyword is not used much in day to day programming.

Example: With Keyword

Python3

# using with statement
with open('file_path', 'w') as file:
    file.write('hello world !')

as

as keyword is used to create the alias for the module imported. i.e giving a new name to the imported module. E.g import math as mymath.

Example: as Keyword

Python3

import math as gfg

print(gfg.factorial(5))

Output

120

pass

pass is the null statement in python. Nothing happens when this is encountered. This is used to prevent indentation errors and used as a placeholder.

Example: Pass Keyword

Python3

n = 10
for i in range(n):

    # pass can be used as placeholder
    # when code is to added later
    pass

Output

Lambda

Lambda keyword is used to make inline returning functions with no statements allowed internally. 

Example: Lambda Keyword

Python3

# Lambda keyword
g = lambda x: x*x*x

print(g(7))

Output

343

Import, From

• import : This statement is used to include a particular module into current program.
• from : Generally used with import, from is used to import particular functionality from the module imported.

Example: Import, From Keyword

Python3

# import keyword
from math import factorial
import math
print(math.factorial(10))

# from keyword
print(factorial(10))

Output

3628800
3628800

Exception Handling Keywords – try, except, raise, finally, and assert

• try : This keyword is used for exception handling, used to catch the errors in the code using the keyword except. Code in “try” block is checked, if there is any type of error, except block is executed.
• except : As explained above, this works together with “try” to catch exceptions.
• finally : No matter what is result of the “try” block, block termed “finally” is always executed.
• raise: We can raise an exception explicitly with the raise keyword
• assert: This function is used for debugging purposes. Usually used to check the correctness of code. If a statement is evaluated to be true, nothing happens, but when it is false, “AssertionError” is raised. One can also print a message with the error, separated by a comma.

Example: try, except, raise, finally, and assert Keywords

Python3

# initializing number
a = 4
b = 0

# No exception Exception raised in try block
try:
    k = a//b  # raises divide by zero exception.
    print(k)

# handles zerodivision exception
except ZeroDivisionError:
    print("Can't divide by zero")

finally:
    # this block is always executed
    # regardless of exception generation.
    print('This is always executed')

# assert Keyword
# using assert to check for 0
print("The value of a / b is : ")
assert b != 0, "Divide by 0 error"
print(a / b)

# raise keyword
# Raises an user defined exception
# if strings are not equal
temp = "geeks for geeks"
if temp != "geeks":
    raise TypeError("Both the strings are different.")

Output

Can't divide by zero
This is always executed
The value of a / b is :
AssertionError: Divide by 0 error

Python3

# raise keyword
# Raises an user defined exception
# if strings are not equal
temp = "geeks for geeks"
if temp != "geeks":
    raise TypeError("Both the strings are different.")

Output

TypeError: Both the strings are different.

Note: For more information refer to our tutorial Exception Handling Tutorial in Python.

del

del is used to delete a reference to an object. Any variable or list value can be deleted using del.

Example: del Keyword

Python3

my_variable1 = 20
my_variable2 = "GeeksForGeeks"

# check if my_variable1 and my_variable2 exists
print(my_variable1)
print(my_variable2)

# delete both the variables
del my_variable1
del my_variable2

# check if my_variable1 and my_variable2 exists
print(my_variable1)
print(my_variable2)

Output

20
GeeksForGeeks
NameError: name 'my_variable1' is not defined

Global, Nonlocal

• global: This keyword is used to define a variable inside the function to be of a global scope.
• non-local : This keyword works similar to the global, but rather than global, this keyword declares a variable to point to variable of outside enclosing function, in case of nested functions.

Example: Global and nonlocal keywords

Python3

# global variable
a = 15
b = 10

# function to perform addition
def add():
    c = a + b
    print(c)

# calling a function
add()

# nonlocal keyword
def fun():
    var1 = 10

    def gun():
        # tell python explicitly that it
        # has to access var1 initialized
        # in fun on line 2
        # using the keyword nonlocal
        nonlocal var1

        var1 = var1 + 10
        print(var1)

    gun()
fun()

Output

25
20

Note: For more information, refer to our Global and local variables tutorial in Python.

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