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if else Conditional Operator in Python

Last Updated : April 21, 2025

Just like other programming languages, Python also provides the feature to evaluate conditional statements using the conditional operator.

In this tutorial, we will see the if else conational operator.

Python if else Conditional Operator

if else conditional operator is used to evaluate/get either value/statement (from the given two values/statements) depending on the result of the given Boolean expression.

Syntax

Below is the syntax to write if else conditional statement:

value1 if expression else value2

Here,

• value1 – represents the value for the conditional expression if it is True.
• expression – represents the condition that must be evaluated to a Boolean (i.e. we can say it is a condition)
• value2 – represents the value for the conditional expression if it is False.

In simple words, we can say – if the expression is True, value1 will be returned and if it is False, value2 will be returned.

Examples

Example 1: Printing the largest value among two values

# find the largest Value

x = 20
y = 10

# if else conditional operator 
largest = x if x>y else y
# printing the values
print("x: ", x)
print("y: ", y)
print("largest: ", largest)
print()

x = 10
y = 20

# if else conditional operator 
largest = x if x>y else y
# printing the values
print("x: ", x)
print("y: ", y)
print("largest: ", largest)
print()

x = 10
y = 10

# if else conditional operator 
largest = x if x>y else y
# printing the values
print("x: ", x)
print("y: ", y)
print("largest: ", largest)
print()

Output

x:  20
y:  10
largest:  20

x:  10
y:  20
largest:  20

x:  10
y:  10
largest:  10

Example 2: Printing the largest value among three values

It's an example of nested if else conditional operator.

# find the largest Value

x = 10
y = 20
z = 30

# if else conditional operator 
largest = x if (x>y and x>z) else (y if(y>x and x>z) else z)
# printing the values
print("x: ", x)
print("y: ", y)
print("z: ", z)
print("largest: ", largest)
print()

x = 10
y = 30
z = 20

# if else conditional operator 
largest = x if (x>y and x>z) else (y if(y>x and y>z) else z)
# printing the values
print("x: ", x)
print("y: ", y)
print("z: ", z)
print("largest: ", largest)
print()

x = 30
y = 20
z = 10

# if else conditional operator 
largest = x if (x>y and x>z) else (y if(y>x and y>z) else z)
# printing the values
print("x: ", x)
print("y: ", y)
print("z: ", z)
print("largest: ", largest)
print()

x = 10
y = 10
z = 10

# if else conditional operator 
largest = x if (x>y and x>z) else (y if(y>x and y>z) else z)
# printing the values
print("x: ", x)
print("y: ", y)
print("z: ", z)
print("largest: ", largest)
print()

Output

x:  10
y:  20
z:  30
largest:  30

x:  10
y:  30
z:  20
largest:  30

x:  30
y:  20
z:  10
largest:  30

x:  10
y:  10
z:  10
largest:  10

Python if-else Conditional Operator Exercise

Select the correct option to complete each statement about the if-else conditional operator in Python.

1. The if-else statement in Python is used to ___ a condition. --Select-- test print execute
2. The syntax of an if-else statement in Python starts with the keyword ___. --Select-- if for while
3. If the condition in an if-else statement evaluates to ___, the else block will be executed. --Select-- False True None

Check Answers