# What are the differences between $…$, $$…$$, $$…$$, and $…$? [duplicate]

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The title says it all. I haven't been able to find the answer yet, so any help would be appreciated.

## marked as duplicate by Stefan Pinnow, Troy, Henri Menke, CarLaTeX, SebastianoJan 17 '18 at 20:17

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

## 1 Answer

Math mode has two main modes: display mode and inline mode. Inline mode is for math that is included within a line or paragraph of text, and display mode is for math that is set apart from the main text.

## Inline math

The TeX delimiters for inline math are $ and $.

The LaTeX delimiters for inline math are $$ and $$.

Although it's possible to use $...$ for inline math as well in LaTeX. See the following question for more discussion.

## Displayed math

The TeX delimiters for displayed math are $$ and $$.

The LaTeX delimiters for displayed math are $ and $.

Unlike the delimiters for inline math, you should not use the TeX form of the delimiters in LaTeX. See the following question for discussion.

• Notably, inline $ ... $ syntax is documented in LaTeX: A Document Preparation System by Lamport, whilst $$ ... $$ syntax is not. – Joseph Wright Jan 17 '18 at 19:01