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<html>
<head><title>Help On LaTeX Special Characters</title></head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#000099" vlink="#cc0000" alink="#cc0000">
<h1><font size="-2">Hypertext Help with LaTeX</font><br><font color="#cc0000">Special Characters</font></h1>
<p>
The following characters play a special role in LaTeX and are called
special printing characters, or simply special characters.
<pre>
# $ % & ~ _ ^ <tt>\</tt> { }
</pre>
Whenever you put one of these special characters into your file, you
are doing something special, as described below.
<p>
If you simply want the character to be
printed just as any other letter, include a <tt>\</tt> in front of the
character. For example, <tt>\$</tt> will produce $ in your output.
<br>
Exceptions to this rule:
<ul>
<li><tt>\</tt> itself because
<a href="ltx-181.html"><tt>\\</tt></a> has its own
special meaning. Use <tt>$\backslash$</tt>.
<li><tt>~</tt> and <tt>^</tt> because <tt>\~</tt> and <tt>\^</tt> produce
<a href="ltx-401.html">accents</a>. Use
<a href="ltx-342.html"><tt>\verb</tt></a> or the
<a href="ltx-79.html">verbatim environment</a>.
</ul>
<h2>#</h2>
The number (pound) sign is used to define use of arguments, for example,
in the <a href="ltx-18.html"><tt>\newcommand</tt></a> command.
<h2>$</h2>
The dollar sign is used to delineate <a href="ltx-115.html#math">math</a> and
<a href="ltx-421.html">displaymath</a> Enviroments.
<h2>%</h2>
The percent sign is used to insert <a href="ltx-434.html">Comments</a> in the
input file, and to allow line breaks without generating a space.
<h2>&</h2>
The ampersand is used to separate items in the <a href="ltx-202.html">array</a>
and <a href="ltx-68.html">tabular</a> Enviroments.
<h2>~</h2>
The tilde generates a <a href="ltx-143.html">nonbreaking space</a>
To create a tilde in the output, use
<a href="ltx-342.html"><tt>\verb</tt></a> or the
<a href="ltx-79.html">verbatim environment</a> (or cheat by using
<tt>\~{}</tt>, i.e., placing a
<a href="ltx-401.html">tilde accent</a> over a "blank" letter).
<h2>_</h2>
The underscore is used to create <a href="ltx-179.html">subscripts</a>
<h2>^</h2>The carat (circumflex) symbol generates
<a href="ltx-180.html">superscripts</a>.
To create a carat in the output
use <a href="ltx-342.html"><tt>\verb</tt></a> or the
<a href="ltx-79.html">verbatim environment</a>.
<h2>\ , { , and }</h2>
The backslash and braces are used in
<a href="ltx-17.html">command</a> definitions, for enclosing
command arguments, and for delimiting scopes of
<a href="declarations.html">declarations</a>.
<hr>
See also <a href="input.html">Input to LaTeX</a><br>
Return to the <a href="ltx-2.html">LaTeX Table of Contents</a>
<hr>
<address>
Revised: Sheldon Green, 15 Jul 1995.
</address>
</body>
</html>
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