Python String partition() Method (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 02 Jan, 2025

In Python, the Stringpartition() method splits the string into three parts at the first occurrence of the separator and returns a tuple containing the part before the separator, the separator itself, and the part after the separator.

Let’s understand with the help of an example:

Python `

s = "Geeks geeks"

res = s.partition("for") print(res)

`

Output

('Geeks geeks', '', '')

Explanation:

• The string is split into three parts:
  1. **Part before the separator: 'I love Geeks'
  2. **The separator: 'for'
  3. **Part after the separator: ' Geeks'
• If the separator is found, the method returns a tuple containing these three components.

Table of Content

• Syntax of partition() method
• Using partition() with a valid separator

Syntax of partition() method

string.partition(separator)

**Parameters:

• **separator(required): a substring that separates the string

**Return Type:

• Returns a tuple of three strings: (before_separator, separator, after_separator).
• If the separator is not found, the tuple returned is (string, '', '').

Using partition() with a valid separator

This example demonstrates the behavior when the separator exists in the string:

Python `

s = "Python is fun"

res = s.partition("is") print(res)

`

Output

('Python ', 'is', ' fun')

Explanation:

• The string is split at the first occurrence of the separator "is".
• The method returns a tuple containing the three parts of the string.

When the separator is not found

If the separator is absent, the partition() method returns a specific result.

Python `

s = "Python is fun"

res = s.partition("Java") print(res)

`

Output

('Python is fun', '', '')

Explanation:

• Since the separator "Java" is not present in the string, the entire string is returned as the first element of the tuple.
• The second and third elements are empty strings.

Working with multiple occurrences of the separator

partition() method only considers the first occurrence of the separator:

Python `

s = "Learn Python with GeeksforGeeks"

res = s.partition("Python") print(res)

`

Output

('Learn ', 'Python', ' with GeeksforGeeks')

Explanation:

• The string is split at the first occurrence of "Python".
• Subsequent occurrences of the separator are ignored by the partition() method.

Using special characters as the separator

partition() method works seamlessly with special characters:

Python `

s = "key:value"

res = s.partition(":") print(res)

`

Output

('key', ':', 'value')

Explanation:

• The string is split into three parts at the occurrence of ":" .
• This method is particularly useful when parsing key-value pairs in a structured format.