# How do I write something beside math text?

I have some giant matrices or systems of equations that are getting in my way of my text. Basically is hard enough to write them all in the same line, but when I want to write something beside it, it's a hopeless task for instance

$\left\{\begin{matrix} f_x(x,y,z) = 0 \\ f_y(x,y,z) = 0 \\ f_z(x,y,z) = 0\\ \end{matrix}\right. \iff \left\{\begin{matrix} y = 0 \\ x = 0 \\ z = 0\\ \end{matrix}\right. \iff \left\{\begin{matrix} y = 0 \\ x = 0 \\ z = \frac{1}{2}\\ \end{matrix}\right.$ I can't write anything here "beside" it because it's just going to get cut off and goes under the system of equations

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possible duplicate? see: [tex.stackexchange.com/questions/291/… –  Count Zero Jun 2 '12 at 19:55
@CountZero, link is broken. –  sidht Jun 2 '12 at 19:57
–  Torbjørn T. Jun 2 '12 at 20:04
I am going to edit my question –  sidht Jun 2 '12 at 20:07
@TorbjørnT. Is there a way to do it without that package? –  sidht Jun 2 '12 at 20:12

You can use \text from the amsmath package; if required, a \parbox can be used to accommodate long texts. As egreg mentioned in a comment, instead of using matrix and \left, \right. you can use the cases environment from amsmath; here's an example showing both possibilities:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\begin{document}

$\left\{\begin{matrix} f_x(x,y,z) = 0 \\ f_y(x,y,z) = 0 \\ f_z(x,y,z) = 0 \end{matrix}\right. \iff \left\{\begin{matrix} y = 0 \\ x = 0 \\ z = 0 \end{matrix}\right. \iff \left\{\begin{matrix} y = 0 \\ x = 0 \\ z = \frac{1}{2} \end{matrix}\right.\qquad \text{\parbox{4cm}{I can write anything here "beside" using a box if necessary}}$

$\begin{cases} f_x(x,y,z) = 0 \\ f_y(x,y,z) = 0 \\ f_z(x,y,z) = 0 \end{cases} \iff \begin{cases} y = 0 \\ x = 0 \\ z = 0 \end{cases} \iff \begin{cases} y = 0 \\ x = 0 \\ z = \frac{1}{2} \end{cases}\quad \text{\parbox{3.5cm}{I can write anything here "beside" using a box if necessary}}$

\end{document}


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I'd use the cases environment, but it's a matter of preferences. –  egreg Jun 2 '12 at 20:19
@egreg I'll add to my answer an example using cases. –  Gonzalo Medina Jun 2 '12 at 20:27
Yeah that's what I need. What does the \qquad thing do? The parbox just makes a boxed paragraph I know that. –  sidht Jun 2 '12 at 20:32
Why do things look "bigger" in the cases environment? –  sidht Jun 2 '12 at 20:42
@jak the cases environment internally uses \arraystretch{1.2} so there's an extra 20% space between rows. –  Gonzalo Medina Jun 2 '12 at 20:44