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Python

Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points
Posted by Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points

Why is "else" giving me a Syntax Error while "elif" works just fine?

Here is my script:

def add_item():
    while True:
        item = input("Enter your item here. > ")    

        if item == 'DONE':
            break

        elif item == 'SHOW':
            SHOW()
            continue # without this continue, SHOW is added to the shopping list!

        elif item == 'HELP':
            HELP()
            continue # without this continue, HELP is added to the list.

If I try to make that last "elif" into an "else", I get this:

File "try_again_1.py", line 28
else item == 'HELP':
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

3 Answers

Cena Mayo
Cena Mayo
55,236 Points

Hi Gary,

The 'else' clause is optional, and therefore doesn't take any conditional statements, as do the 'if' and 'elif' clauses/keywords. It's meant as a catchall - if none of the above if/elif conditions are met, then do this other thing.'

Hope that clarifies things!

deckey
deckey
14,630 Points
deckey
deckey
14,630 Points

Hi Gary, you can not state else with a condition, like else item == 'HELP'. Instead just use else{} statement

hope it helps, good luck!

Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points
Gary Gibson
Gary Gibson
5,011 Points

Okay, I see.

I was able to add:

else:

print("Okay, I'll add that to the list!")

I can't have "else" followed by a condition that needs a introductory condition (if) of some kind. "Else" is all the rest. Got it.