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Python - Enumerate a List

Last Updated : May 01, 2025

In Python, the enumerate() function allows you to loop through a list while keeping track of both the index and the item. In this chapter, we will learn how to use enumerate() in loops with the help of examples.

Enumerate a List Using enumerate() Function in a For Loop

The enumerate() function adds a counter to an iterable and returns it as an enumerate object.

Example

In this example, we are enumerating through a list of city names and printing both the index and the city.

# Creating a list of cities
cities = ["New York", "London", "Paris", "Tokyo", "Sydney"]

# Using enumerate to get index and city
for index, city in enumerate(cities):
    print(index, city)

The output of the above code would be:

0 New York
1 London
2 Paris
3 Tokyo
4 Sydney

Enumerate a List Starting Index from a Custom Number

The enumerate() function allows you to specify a starting index using the start parameter.

Example

In this example, we are starting the index from 101 while enumerating the list of cities.

# Creating a list of cities
cities = ["New York", "London", "Paris", "Tokyo", "Sydney"]

# Starting enumeration from 101
for index, city in enumerate(cities, start=101):
    print(index, city)

The output of the above code would be:

101 New York
102 London
103 Paris
104 Tokyo
105 Sydney

Converting the Enumerate Object to a List

You can convert the result of enumerate() into a list of tuples using the list() function.

Example

In this example, we are converting the enumerated result of city names into a list of index-city tuples.

# Creating a list of cities
cities = ["New York", "London", "Paris", "Tokyo", "Sydney"]

# Converting enumerate object to a list of tuples
indexed_cities = list(enumerate(cities))

# Displaying the result
print(indexed_cities)

The output of the above code would be:

[(0, 'New York'), (1, 'London'), (2, 'Paris'), (3, 'Tokyo'), (4, 'Sydney')]

Using Enumerate in List Comprehension

enumerate() can be used inside a list comprehension to create a new list with both indexes and items.

Example

In this example, we are creating a list of formatted strings using enumerate inside a list comprehension.

# Creating a list of cities
cities = ["New York", "London", "Paris", "Tokyo", "Sydney"]

# Using list comprehension with enumerate
formatted = [f"{i}: {city}" for i, city in enumerate(cities)]

# Displaying the formatted list
print(formatted)

The output of the above code would be:

['0: New York', '1: London', '2: Paris', '3: Tokyo', '4: Sydney']

Enumerate with Conditional Logic

Using enumerate() helps when you want to apply conditions based on the index while iterating through a list.

Example

In this example, we are printing cities only at even indexes using a conditional statement with enumerate.

# Creating a list of cities
cities = ["New York", "London", "Paris", "Tokyo", "Sydney"]

# Printing cities at even indexes
for i, city in enumerate(cities):
    if i % 2 == 0:
        print(f"Index {i} has city: {city}")

The output of the above code would be:

Index 0 has city: New York
Index 2 has city: Paris
Index 4 has city: Sydney

Exercise

Select the correct option to complete each statement about using enumerate() with lists in Python.

1. What does the enumerate() function in Python return? --Select-- An iterator that yields index and value pairs Only the values in a list A list sorted by index
2. Which of the following is the correct way to use enumerate() in a for loop? --Select-- for index, value in enumerate(my_list): for value in enumerate(my_list): for index in my_list.enumerate():
3. What will list(enumerate(['a', 'b', 'c'])) return? --Select-- [(0, 'a'), (1, 'b'), (2, 'c')] ['a', 'b', 'c'] [(1, 'a'), (2, 'b'), (3, 'c')]