What Does The Python Percent Sign Mean?

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This article will discuss the % (Python percent sign) in Python. Usually, it represents the integer, decimal, string, etc., type variables. On another side, it will return the remainder of the two numbers.

So, let’s see the two scenarios in this article.

Scenario 1: Using % or Python percent sign as a formatting operator

We specified that the % operator represents the integer, decimal, string, etc., type variables.

Let’s see different formatting operators with an example for each.

1. %c

This formatting operator specifies the character, and character means single string value.

Syntax:

print("%c" %'character')

where character specifies a single string.

Example:

In this example, we will print different characters using %c.

#demo for %c formatting operator that prints A
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %c " %'A')

#demo for %c formatting operator that prints B
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %c " %'B')

#demo for %c formatting operator that prints C
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %c " %'C')

#demo for %c formatting operator that prints D
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %c " %'D')

#demo for %c formatting operator that prints E
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %c " %'E')

Output:

Hello Welcome , This is A 
Hello Welcome , This is B 
Hello Welcome , This is C 
Hello Welcome , This is D 
Hello Welcome , This is E

Also Read: How to Create an Empty Array In Python

2. %s

This formatting operator specifies the string, and a string is a collection of characters.

Syntax:

print("%s" %'string')

Where the string specifies the string as value.

Example:

In this example, we will print different characters using %s.

#demo for %s formatting operator that prints Python
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %s " %'Python')

#demo for %s formatting operator that prints java
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %s " %'java')

#demo for %s formatting operator that prints C
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %s " %'C')

#demo for %s formatting operator that prints DBMS
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %s " %'DBMS')

#demo for %s formatting operator that prints html
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %s " %'html')

Output:

Hello Welcome , This is Python 
Hello Welcome , This is java 
Hello Welcome , This is C 
Hello Welcome , This is DBMS 
Hello Welcome , This is html

Also Read: How To Display A Calendar In Python

3. %i

This formatting operator is used to specify the signed decimal integer.

It can represent positive and negative numbers as well.

Syntax:

print("%i" %value)

Where value specifies the positive/negative/zero as value.

Example:

In this example, we will print different integer values using %i.

#demo for %i formatting operator that prints 34
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i " %34)

#demo for %i formatting operator that prints +89
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i " %+89)

#demo for %i formatting operator that prints 0
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i " %0)

#demo for %i formatting operator that prints -678
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i " %-678)

#demo for %i formatting operator that prints 43
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i " %43)

Output:

Hello Welcome , This is 34 
Hello Welcome , This is 89 
Hello Welcome , This is 0 
Hello Welcome , This is -678 
Hello Welcome , This is 43

Also Read: How To Sort a List of Tuples in Python

4. %d

This formatting operator is used to specify the signed decimal integer in Python. It is similar to %i.

It can represent positive and negative numbers as well.

Syntax:

print("%d" %value)

Where value specifies the positive/negative/zero as value.

Example:

In this example, we will print different integer values using %d.

#demo for %d formatting operator that prints 34
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %d " %34)

#demo for %d formatting operator that prints +89
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %d " %+89)

#demo for %d formatting operator that prints 0
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %d " %0)

#demo for %d formatting operator that prints -678
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %d " %-678)

#demo for %d formatting operator that prints 43
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %d " %43)

Output:

Hello Welcome , This is 34 
Hello Welcome , This is 89 
Hello Welcome , This is 0 
Hello Welcome , This is -678 
Hello Welcome , This is 43

Also Read: Arithmetic Operators in Python [With Examples]

5. %u

This formatting operator is used to specify the unsigned decimal integer.

It can represent positive and negative numbers as well.

Syntax:

print("%u" %value)

Where value specifies the positive/negative/zero as value.

Example:

In this example, we will print different integer values using %u.

#demo for %u formatting operator that prints 34
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %u " %34)

#demo for %u formatting operator that prints +89
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %u " %+89)

#demo for %u formatting operator that prints 0
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %u " %0)

#demo for %u formatting operator that prints -678
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %u " %-678)

#demo for %u formatting operator that prints 43
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %u " %43)

Output:

Hello Welcome , This is 34 
Hello Welcome , This is 89 
Hello Welcome , This is 0 
Hello Welcome , This is -678 
Hello Welcome , This is 43

Also Read: How to Create Python Empty Set

6. %o

This formatting operator specifies the octal value for the given value.

It can represent positive and negative numbers as well.

Syntax:

print("%o" %value)

Where value specifies the positive/negative/zero as value.

Example:

In this example, we will print different integer values using %i and get the octal values concerning the integer values using %o.

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the octal value for the value 1
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my octal representation is %o" %(1,1))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the octal value for the value 634
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my octal representation is %o" %(634,634))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the octal value for the value 0
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my octal representation is %o" %(0,0))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the octal value for the value 1000
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my octal representation is %o" %(1000,1000))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the octal value for the value -90
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my octal representation is %o" %(-90,-90))

Output:

Hello Welcome , This is 1 and my octal representation is 1
Hello Welcome , This is 634 and my octal representation is 1172
Hello Welcome , This is 0 and my octal representation is 0
Hello Welcome , This is 1000 and my octal representation is 1750
Hello Welcome , This is -90 and my octal representation is -132

Also Read: Python Matrix Using Numpy [With Examples]

7. %x

This formatting operator specifies the hexadecimal value for the given value in lower case.

It can represent positive and negative numbers as well.

Syntax:

print("%x" %value)

Where value specifies the positive/negative/zero as value.

Example:

In this example, we will print different integer values using %i and get the hexadecimal values concerning the integer values using %x.

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the hexadecimal value for the value 1 
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my hexadecimal representation is %x" %(1,1))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the hexadecimal value for the value 634
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my hexadecimal representation is %x" %(634,634))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the hexadecimal value for the value 0
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my hexadecimal representation is %x" %(0,0))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the hexadecimal value for the value 1000
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my hexadecimal representation is %x" %(1000,1000))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the hexadecimal value for the value -90
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my hexadecimal representation is %x" %(-90,-90))

Output:

Hello Welcome , This is 1 and my hexadecimal representation is 1
Hello Welcome , This is 634 and my hexadecimal representation is 27a
Hello Welcome , This is 0 and my hexadecimal representation is 0
Hello Welcome , This is 1000 and my hexadecimal representation is 3e8
Hello Welcome , This is -90 and my hexadecimal representation is -5a

Also Read: How To Create An Empty Dictionary in Python

8. %X

This formatting operator is used to specify the hexadecimal value for the given value in the upper case.

It can represent positive and negative numbers as well.

Syntax:

print("%X" %value)

Where value specifies the positive/negative/zero as value.

Example:

In this example, we will print different integer values using %i and get the hexadecimal values concerning the integer values using %X.

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the hexadecimal value for the value 1 
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my hexadecimal representation is %X" %(1,1))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the hexadecimal value for the value 634
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my hexadecimal representation is %X" %(634,634))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the hexadecimal value for the value 0
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my hexadecimal representation is %X" %(0,0))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the hexadecimal value for the value 1000
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my hexadecimal representation is %X" %(1000,1000))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the hexadecimal value for the value -90
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my hexadecimal representation is %X" %(-90,-90))

Output:

Hello Welcome , This is 1 and my hexadecimal representation is 1
Hello Welcome , This is 634 and my hexadecimal representation is 27A
Hello Welcome , This is 0 and my hexadecimal representation is 0
Hello Welcome , This is 1000 and my hexadecimal representation is 3E8
Hello Welcome , This is -90 and my hexadecimal representation is -5A

Also Read: How to Exit Python Program [4 Methods]

9. %e

This formatting operator specifies the exponential value for the given value in lower case.

It can represent positive and negative numbers as well.

Syntax:

print("%e" %value)

Where the value specifies the positive/negative/zero as value.

Example:

In this example, we will print different integer values using %i and get the exponential values concerning the integer values using %e.

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the exponential value for the value 1 
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my exponential representation is %e" %(1,1))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the exponential value for the value 634
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my exponential representation is %e" %(634,634))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the exponential value for the value 0
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my exponential representation is %e" %(0,0))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the exponential value for the value 1000
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my exponential representation is %e" %(1000,1000))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the exponential value for the value -90
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my exponential representation is %e" %(-90,-90))

Output:

Hello Welcome , This is 1 and my exponential representation is 1.000000e+00
Hello Welcome , This is 634 and my exponential representation is 6.340000e+02
Hello Welcome , This is 0 and my exponential representation is 0.000000e+00
Hello Welcome , This is 1000 and my exponential representation is 1.000000e+03
Hello Welcome , This is -90 and my exponential representation is -9.000000e+01

Also Read: How to Convert Python Tuples to Lists

10. %E

This formatting operator specifies the exponential value for the given value in the upper case.

It can represent positive and negative numbers as well.

Syntax:

print("%E" %value)

Where value specifies the positive/negative/zero as value.

Example:

In this example, we will print different integer values using %i and get the exponential values concerning the integer values using %E.

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the exponential value for the value 1 
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my exponential representation is %E" %(1,1))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the exponential value for the value 634
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my exponential representation is %E" %(634,634))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the exponential value for the value 0
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my exponential representation is %E" %(0,0))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the exponential value for the value 1000
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my exponential representation is %E" %(1000,1000))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the exponential value for the value -90
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my exponential representation is %E" %(-90,-90))

Output:

Hello Welcome , This is 1 and my exponential representation is 1.000000E+00
Hello Welcome , This is 634 and my exponential representation is 6.340000E+02
Hello Welcome , This is 0 and my exponential representation is 0.000000E+00
Hello Welcome , This is 1000 and my exponential representation is 1.000000E+03
Hello Welcome , This is -90 and my exponential representation is -9.000000E+01

Also Read: How to Handle String Index Out of Range Error In Python

11. %f

This formatting operator is used to specify the float value for the given value,

It can represent positive and negative numbers as well.

Syntax:

print("%f" %value)

Where value specifies the positive/negative/zero as value.

Example:

In this example, we will print different integer values using %i and get the float values.

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the float value for the value 1 
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my float representation is %f" %(1,1))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the float value for the value 634
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my float representation is %f" %(634,634))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the float value for the value 0
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my float representation is %f" %(0,0))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the float value for the value 1000
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my float representation is %f" %(1000,1000))

#demo for %0 formatting operator that prints the float value for the value -90
print ("Hello Welcome , This is %i and my float representation is %f" %(-90,-90))

Output:

Hello Welcome , This is 1 and my float representation is 1.000000
Hello Welcome , This is 634 and my float representation is 634.000000
Hello Welcome , This is 0 and my float representation is 0.000000
Hello Welcome , This is 1000 and my float representation is 1000.000000
Hello Welcome , This is -90 and my float representation is -90.000000

Also Read: Python For Loop Index With Examples

Scenario 2: Using % or Python percent sign to get the remainder

When a dividend is divided (/) by divisor, we will get the quotient. If we use %, we will get the remainder.

Syntax:

dividend%divisor

Example:

In this example, we will get the remainder performed on two numbers.

#get the remainder when dividend is 45 and divisor is 8
print(45%8)

#get the remainder when dividend is 145 and divisor is 38
print(145%38)


#get the remainder when dividend is 1 and divisor is 1
print(1%1)

#get the remainder when dividend is 0 and divisor is 45
print(0%45)

Output:

5
31
0
0

This tutorial showed us how to use the % symbol in Python with all possible scenarios.

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