How to Fix Invalid Syntax in Python

Do you know How to fix invalid syntax in Python? Here, we will teach you the meaning of syntax error and how you can fix the invalid syntax error in Python.

What is an Invalid Syntax error in Python?

Every programming language has its own rules for writing code. If you break that rule, you must face the Invalid syntax error.

Let’s understand it with real-life scenarios. Generally, we communicate in our language using the correct words in the proper place so others can know what we say.

But instead of saying, “Hello everyone, How are you?” what if I communicated with you like this: “Are everyone you Hello?” You didn’t understand this sentence because we misplaced the words and letters.

This is how the machine cannot understand if we misplace the keywords or break some different types of rules, then it will give an Invalid Syntax Error in Python like this,

Different Reasons for Getting Invalid Syntax Error in Python.

Let’s understand the different reasons for getting an invalid syntax error in Python.

1. Misspelt Keywords: Python has a set of reserved keywords that should be spelt correctly. For example, typing ‘fro’ instead of ‘for’ will result in a syntax error like this: “SyntaxError: invalid syntax” in Python.
2. Improper Indentation: Python uses indentation to differentiate between blocks of code. If your code is not indented correctly, Python will throw an error like this: IndentationError in Python.
3. Incorrect Punctuation: Each statement in Python must end with a new line. If a statement is broken up incorrectly or punctuation such as colons and parentheses are misplaced, it can result in a syntax error like this: SyntaxError: expected ‘:’ in Python.
4. Variable Names: Python will have problems if a variable name starts with a number or contains spaces or special characters (with the exception of underscores).
5. Incorrect Function Calls: If functions are called without the correct number or type of arguments, Python will throw an error.

Let’s see how we can fix these syntax errors in Python with practical examples.

Fix Invalid Syntax Errors by Misspelled Keywords

If you change the predefined keywords, Python will give a syntax error. We will show you how to fix that error in Python.

Here’s an example of an invalid syntax error in Python

fro i in range(10):
    print(i)

Output:

  File "c:\Core_Python\invalid syntax error in python\example1.py", line 1
    fro i in range(10):
        ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

In the above code, we are trying to print 0 to 9 using the for loop but getting the syntax error because instead of “for”, we’ve written “fro”, so this is an example of the misspelt keyword.

This is only two lines of code, so it is easy to find the error, but what if you make a mistake in 1000 or more lines of code? To find the error, you can see the output; we’re getting the instructions in output; that error is on line 1 like this: \example1.py”, line 1.

So you can identify the error location and fix that error, the correct code should be,

for i in range(10):
    print(i)

Solve syntaxerror: Invalid Syntax Python by Improper Indentation

Let’s understand the actual meaning of indentation in Python. When there is a different block of codes, including a for loop, defining a function, if statement, etc., in the program. Then, you must give proper spacing to include the code block inside these statements.

Let me give you an example so you’ll understand how we should provide indentation to fix the syntax errors.

# Incorrect Indentation code

age = 20

if age > 18:
for i in range(3):
print("Hello")
else:
print("you are less than 18")

# Error Solved

age = 20

if age > 18:
    for i in range(3):
        print("Hello")
else:
    print("you are less than 18")

In the above code, we’ve taken a random example where we will check the age; if the age is more than 18, then it should print Hello 3 times. So we’ve used the If statement to apply the condition and for loop to print “Hello” multiple times.

In the first program, the code is correct, but the indentation is not. So, the Python interpreter throws the error with the line number and sometimes where the error is exact.

Invalid syntax error in Python by Incorrect Punctuation

In Python, punctuations like colon (:) are mandatory in some places, like if condition, looping statements, defining functions, etc. If you forget to include the expected punctuation in the code, it will throw a syntax error.

Although this cause of the error may look very simple, sometimes it can take more time to identify in 1000 or more lines of code.

So, we will teach you how to fix the Syntax error in Python if the reason for the error is missing punctuation.

# Invalid Syntax in If condition
age = 18 

if age > 12
    print("Hello")

# Correct Code
age = 18 

if age > 12:
    print("Hello")

In the above code, we are taking age as input and checking whether it is greater than 12. If True, then print Hello.

The condition and indentations in the first code are correct. Still, we forgot to put a colon at the end of the “if age > 12” condition statement, which gives a syntax error and indicates the exact location of the error.

How to Solve Python Invalid Syntax by Variable Names

In Python, there are some rules for declaring a variable, and if you break that rule, then it will throw an invalid syntax error in Python.

Let’s understand which types of rules we should follow while declaring a variable in Python with practical examples.

# incorrect variable declaration

1_emp = "Peter"
$check = "Hello"
last name = "Parker"

# Correct Code

emp_1 = "Peter"
check = "Hello" 
last_name = "Parker"

print("Everything is good!")

In the first code, you can see we’re declaring three variables by breaking the Python variable declaration rules, which is causing syntax errors.

So you cannot include the digit first while declaring a variable like this: 1_emp = “Peter.” You cannot add any special character “$check” to the variable except underscore( _ ), and you cannot give a space in the variable like this: last name = “Parker.”

Syntax Error Python by Incorrect Function Calls

Here, we will show how we can Fix Invalid Syntax in Python caused by function calls. It can make syntax errors when you misplace the argument or do not provide the required datatype as an argument in the Function.

We’ve given a simple example by calling the print() function so you can fix the syntax error caused by calling a function.

# Incorrect Function call 

name = "John Doe"

print("Good Morning", end = " ",name)

print("Nice to meet you!!")

#Correct Code 

name = "John Doe"

print("Good Morning",name, end = " ")

print("Nice to meet you!! ")

In the first code, we are calling the print() function, using end= ” “as the second argument and then again calling a variable “print(“Good Morning”, end = ” “, name)”. This is not allowed in the print() function; you have to use end=” “as the last parameter, like this “print(“Good Morning”, name, end = ” “)”.

Conclusion

In this Python article, you learned how to fix invalid syntax in Python with some practical examples and the different causes of syntax errors in Python. Solving an error in less time is an excellent skill for a developer.

You may like to read:

• indexerror: string index out of range in Python
• SyntaxError: Unexpected EOF while parsing
• ValueError: Invalid literal for int() with base 10 in Python

Bijay Kumar

I am Bijay Kumar, a Microsoft MVP in SharePoint. Apart from SharePoint, I started working on Python, Machine learning, and artificial intelligence for the last 5 years. During this time I got expertise in various Python libraries also like Tkinter, Pandas, NumPy, Turtle, Django, Matplotlib, Tensorflow, Scipy, Scikit-Learn, etc… for various clients in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Check out my profile.

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