TeXipedia

textbraceleft

Renders a left curly brace character within regular text mode, maintaining proper text formatting and alignment.

Overview

Essential for typesetting literal curly braces in regular text without triggering mathematical mode or grouping behavior.

  • Commonly used when documenting LaTeX syntax or code examples in technical documentation.
  • Particularly useful in computer science and programming literature where curly braces need to be displayed as literal characters.
  • Helps distinguish between functional LaTeX braces and decorative or literal brace characters.
  • Often paired with \textbraceright for symmetric brace presentation in text.

Examples

Using a left brace in regular text to denote a set definition

ThesetS={x∈R:x>0}The set S = \text{\textbraceleft}x \in \mathbb{R} : x > 0\text{\textbraceright} 
The set S = \text{\textbraceleft}x \in \mathbb{R} : x > 0\text{\textbraceright}

Showing a left brace as part of an algorithm's notation

if(x>0){returntrue;}if (x > 0) \text{\textbraceleft} return true; \text{\textbraceright} 
if (x > 0) \text{\textbraceleft} return true; \text{\textbraceright}

Including a left brace in mathematical text annotation

f(x)=x2{parabola}f(x) = x^2 \quad \text{\textbraceleft}parabola\text{\textbraceright} 
f(x) = x^2 \quad \text{\textbraceleft}parabola\text{\textbraceright}