Insert an element into a Tuple in Python

Insert an element into a Tuple in Python #

To insert an element into a tuple in Python:

1. Use the list() class to convert the tuple to a list.
2. Use the list.insert() method to insert the element into the list.
3. Use the tuple() class to convert the list to a tuple.

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my_tuple = ('a', 'b', 'c')

# ✅ insert element into tuple using list.insert()

my_list = list(my_tuple)
my_list.insert(3, 'd')

new_tuple = tuple(my_list)
print(new_tuple)  # 👉️ ('a', 'b', 'c', 'd')

# ------------------------------

# ✅ insert element at the end of a tuple

new_tuple_2 = my_tuple + ('d',)  # 👈️ note comma
print(new_tuple_2)  # 👉️ ('a', 'b', 'c', 'd')

# ------------------------------

# ✅ insert element at the beginning of a tuple

new_tuple_3 = ('z',) + my_tuple
print(new_tuple_3)  # 👉️ ('z', 'a', 'b', 'c')

The code sample shows the 3 most common ways to insert an element into a tuple in Python.

Since tuples cannot be changed, the only way to insert an element into a tuple is to create a new tuple that contains the element.

The first example converts the tuple to a list, uses the list.insert() method and converts the list back to a tuple.

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my_tuple = ('a', 'b', 'c')


my_list = list(my_tuple)
my_list.insert(3, 'd')

new_tuple = tuple(my_list)
print(new_tuple)  # 👉️ ('a', 'b', 'c', 'd')

The list class takes an iterable and returns a list object.

The list.insert method inserts an item at a given position.

The method takes the following 2 parameters:

In the example, we added the string d at index 3 and used the tuple() class to convert the list back to a tuple.

Alternatively, you can use the addition (+) operator.

Use the addition (+) operator to insert an element into a tuple, e.g. new_tuple = my_tuple + ('new', ). Tuples are immutable, so in order to insert an element into a tuple, we have to create a new tuple that contains the element.

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my_tuple = ('a', 'b', 'c')

# ✅ insert element at the end of a tuple

new_tuple_2 = my_tuple + ('d',)  # 👈️ note comma
print(new_tuple_2)  # 👉️ ('a', 'b', 'c', 'd')

# ------------------------------

# ✅ insert element at the beginning of a tuple

new_tuple_3 = ('z',) + my_tuple
print(new_tuple_3)  # 👉️ ('z', 'a', 'b', 'c')

Notice that we wrapped the value in parenthesis and added a trailing comma, so that the values on the left-hand and right-hand sides of the addition (+) operator are tuples.

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print(type(('a',)))  # 👉️ <class 'tuple'>

print(type(('a')))  # 👉️ <class 'str'>

Tuples are constructed in multiple ways:

• Using a pair of parenthesis () creates an empty tuple
• Using a trailing comma - a, or (a,)
• Separating items with commas - a, b or (a, b)
• Using the tuple() constructor

An alternative way to insert an element into a tuple is to use reassignment.

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my_tuple = ('a', 'b', 'c')


my_tuple += ('d',)  # 👈️ note comma
print(my_tuple)  # 👉️ ('a', 'b', 'c', 'd')

This approach is useful when you don't need to keep access to the value of the tuple prior to inserting the element.

Instead of declaring a variable that stores the new tuple, we assign a new value to the original variable.

You can also insert an item to a tuple by unpacking the tuple into a new tuple.

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my_tuple = ('a', 'b', 'c')

new_tuple = (*my_tuple, 'd')

print(new_tuple) # 👉️ ('a', 'b', 'c', 'd')

The * iterable unpacking operator enables us to unpack an iterable in function calls, in comprehensions and in generator expressions.

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example = (*(1, 2), 3)

# 👇️ (1, 2, 3)
print(example)

The values from the tuple get unpacked into a new tuple where we can add extra elements.