What Does print() Do in Python? A Kid-Friendly Explanation

The command that gives the dragon its voice.

Lesson 1 of 5FreeAges 10+

What print() actually does

You just made me speak! Let me show you what actually happened there.

print is a command. You give it something, and it says it out loud.

print("Wake up, dragon!")

Output

Wake up, dragon!

The brackets are how you hand something to print. Nothing gets said without them.

print("Wake up, dragon!")

The quotes matter too. They mean 'these are words, exactly as written' — so I say them exactly as written.

print("Hello")

Output

Hello

And every print() gets its own line. Two prints, two lines. Always.

print("First")
print("Second")

Output

First
Second

How many lines will I say here?

print("Left")
print("Right")
print("Middle")

Why: Three prints, three lines, in the order you wrote them: Left, then Right, then Middle. I go top to bottom, always.

What will I say here?

print("dragon")

Why: I say dragon, with no quote marks. The quotes tell Python where your words begin and end; they never get spoken.

The dragon is awake now, and curious. It wants to hear you say hello — properly this time, with the whole line written by you.