# A strange Missing $inserted error For the following text snippet in my document: \documentclass[11pt]{report} \usepackage{quotes} \usepackage{amsmath} \say{For vertical axes deployment,$\theta_t$=$\theta_r$= 0 and for horizontal axes deployment,$\theta_t$= \frac{$\pi$}{2} and$\theta_r$= \frac{$-\pi$}{2} are used, \dots Hence, we conclude\dots, that the pathloss is dramatically higher for vertical axes deployment \dots}\\ \end{document}  I get ! Missing$ inserted.
<inserted text>
$l.396 ...higher for vertical axes deployment\dots} \\  I am unable to figure out what is wrong. Can anyone point out the problem? TIA • Please add a minimal working example (MWE) that illustrates your problem. It will be much easier for us to reproduce your situation and find out what the issue is when we see compilable code, starting with \documentclass{...} and ending with \end{document}. – Fran Jan 28 '15 at 6:50 • shall update the question – Vinod Jan 28 '15 at 6:51 • I can't find a \say command in the quotes or amsmath packages. Could you explain what you want to acheive here? Is it a quotation of some other author? – Benjamin McKay Jan 28 '15 at 6:57 ## 1 Answer You are using $ in a wrong way. It should be somthing like this:

\documentclass{book}
\begin{document}
For vertical axes deployment, $\theta_t = \theta_r = 0$ and for horizontal axes
deployment, $\theta_t = \frac{\pi}{2}$ and $\theta_r = \frac{-\pi}{2}$ are used,
$\dots$ Hence, we conclude$\dots$, that the path loss is dramatically
higher for vertical axes deployment $\dots$
\end{document}


Also for inline fractions, it is better to use \pi/2 (instead of \frac{\pi}{2}) to get

• Also, the use of dollar signs has been deprecated. For inline mathematics, it is now preferred to use $$...$$, and for displayed mathematics, $...$. – ChrisS Jan 28 '15 at 6:59
• @ChrisS $ is deprecated? Since when? ;-) – user11232 Jan 28 '15 at 7:08 • @HarishKumar $ to introduce maths has been deprecated since amslatex was developed; only (relatively) recently have people started pointing this out. – wasteofspace Jan 28 '15 at 10:08
• @HarishKumar See this question and this one. – ChrisS Jan 28 '15 at 10:08