# How to horizontally shift a calligraphic letter?

I have tried to create a newcommand to shift the calligraphic M \mathcal{M} some points to the left with several things along these lines:

\newcommand{\smathcal}[1]{\hspace{-5pt}\mathcal}


However, all I try either delivers an error or does not do what I expect. Could anybody please help me get the right command to achieve what I need?

See a MWE:

\documentclass[a4paper]{scrartcl}
\newcommand{\smathcal}[1]{\hspace*{-5pt}\mathcal}
\begin{document}
$\smathcal{M}$
\end{document}


• Try using \hspace*{} instead of \hspace{}. While code snippets are useful in explanations, it is always best to compose a fully compilable MWE that illustrates the problem including the \documentclass and the appropriate packages so that those trying to help don't have to recreate it. – Peter Grill May 21 '18 at 23:29
• Thank you very much for your comment. I already added a MWE (see my original answer). I also tried the solution you suggested, which unfortunately did not work. – Héctor May 21 '18 at 23:35
• I have it in my head that one should use \kern for this sort of thing, but I don't actually remember why. – zwol May 22 '18 at 4:54
• Why -5pt? You probably are doing some specific logo or something similar and you want it to adapt to the surrounding conditions, so a relative unit such as em or mu should be used. – egreg May 22 '18 at 9:15
• not explicitly explained in the answer, but syntax of command is corected ... when you use [1] to indicate an argument, you have to either have #1 in the expansion, or expect that the next token read after the command will vanish from the output. – barbara beeton May 22 '18 at 21:29

Using \hspace*{} instead of \hspace{}, which is ignored at the start of a line, does the trick:

## Notes:

• I added the \usepackage{showframe} so that one can see the effect.

• You were also missing the #1 in the \newcommand.

## Code:

\documentclass[a4paper]{scrartcl}
\usepackage{showframe}

\newcommand{\smathcal}[1]{\hspace*{-5pt}\mathcal{#1}}
\begin{document}
\noindent
$\mathcal{M}$

\noindent
$\smathcal{M}$

\end{document}