# TikZ matrix angle brackets mis-interpreted [duplicate]

I'm newbie to TikZ. When I use < and > in matrix, they are interpreted to some other symbols. The following code

\documentclass[tikz,convert=pdf2svg,multi=false]{standalone}
\usepackage[ngerman]{babel}
\usetikzlibrary{matrix}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\matrix [matrix of nodes] {
<hello> & world\\
};

\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}


will produce PDF and SVG:

¡hello¿ world


<hello> was translated to ¡hello¿.

Question

1. Why?
2. How do I input angle bracket in matrix

## marked as duplicate by egreg tikz-pgf StackExchange.ready(function() { if (StackExchange.options.isMobile) return; $('.dupe-hammer-message-hover:not(.hover-bound)').each(function() { var$hover = $(this).addClass('hover-bound'),$msg = $hover.siblings('.dupe-hammer-message');$hover.hover( function() { $hover.showInfoMessage('', { messageElement:$msg.clone().show(), transient: false, position: { my: 'bottom left', at: 'top center', offsetTop: -7 }, dismissable: false, relativeToBody: true }); }, function() { StackExchange.helpers.removeMessages(); } ); }); }); Aug 23 '15 at 21:20

• This is unconnected to tikz, try \begin{document} <hello> world\end{document} You could add \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} although less than and greater than signs do not really make good angle brackets, better to use $\langle$ and $\rangle$ or \guillemotleft and \guillemotright – David Carlisle Aug 23 '15 at 20:59
• @DavidCarlisle True. I was using \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} all the time but never really knew its purpose. Thanks. – gongzhitaao Aug 23 '15 at 21:02
Ad. 1. < and > give inequality marks only in math mode. You can write, e.g., $<$hello$>$. You have also symbols to use directly in text mode, but their names are longer than 3 characters, hence my suggestion.
• @gongzhitaao In the times of origin of TeX fonts needed a huge amount of computer processor and memory, hence the original ones have only 128 characters (and math font 256 characters) and in place of ASCII < and > there are in most of text fonts Spanish reversed ! and ?. – Przemysław Scherwentke Aug 23 '15 at 20:53
• This is only true in OT1 encoding if you use \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} you will get the expected symbols. – David Carlisle Aug 23 '15 at 20:55
• @PrzemysławScherwentke Thanks for your excellent explaination. Never knew that reverse ! and ? reason. – gongzhitaao Aug 23 '15 at 21:01