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Why do I get the syntax error "SyntaxError: invalid syntax" in a line with perfectly valid syntax?

Ask Question Pmax = float(max([P1, P2])) Tr=T/self.typeMolecule.Tc w=0.5*(1+scipy.tanh((10**5)*(Tr-0.6))) fi1=0.5*(1-scipy.tanh(8*((Tr**0.4)-1))) fi2=0.460*scipy.sqrt(1-(Tr-0.566)**2/(0.434**2)+0.494 guess = Pmin+(Pmax-Pmin)*((1-w**2)*fi1+(w**2)*fi2) # error here solution = scipy.optimize.newton(funcPsat,guess, args=(T,self))

On the marked line of code, guess = Pmin+(Pmax-Pmin)*((1-w**2)*fi1+(w**2)*fi2) , I get an error message: SyntaxError: invalid syntax .

Pmin , Pmax , w , fi1 and fi2 have all been assigned at this point, so why is there an error?

When I remove that line from the code, the same error appears at the next line of code, again for no apparent reason.

The root of the error is probably occuring above the line you posted. Can you post a little more code? – Bryan Jun 16, 2014 at 5:33 You probably forgot a parenthesis somewhere before. Impossible to tell exactly without larger context. Please provide the full traceback and code that reproduces the problem. – Bakuriu Jun 16, 2014 at 5:37 I found the error, there was a missing bracket in one of the previous lines. Thanks for the help – Pearl Philip Jun 16, 2014 at 5:47 Starting with Python 3.10, we get better error messages for this kind of thing. In this case, SyntaxError: '(' was never closed , and there's an arrow that points to the opening parenthesis. – wjandrea Mar 3 at 4:53

When an error is reported on a line that appears correct, try removing (or commenting out) the line where the error appears to be. If the error moves to the next line, there are two possibilities:

Either both lines have a problem (and the second may have been hidden by the first); or

The previous line has a problem which is being carried forward.

The latter is more likely , especially if removing another line causes the error to move again.

For example, code like the following, saved as twisty_passages.py :

xyzzy = (1 +
plugh = 7
will produce an error on line 2, even though the problem is clearly caused by line 1:
  File "twisty_passages.py", line 2
    plugh = 7
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
The code in the question has a similar problem: the code on the previous line has unbalanced parentheses. Annotated to make it clearer:
# open parentheses: 1  2             3
#                   v  v             v
fi2=0.460*scipy.sqrt(1-(Tr-0.566)**2/(0.434**2)+0.494
#                               ^             ^
# close parentheses:            1             2
There isn't really a general solution for this - the code needs to be analyzed and understood, in order to determine how the parentheses should be altered.
You're missing a close paren in this line:
fi2=0.460*scipy.sqrt(1-(Tr-0.566)**2/(0.434**2)+0.494
There are three ( and only two ).
                My case was categorized as "the previous line has a problem which is being carried forward" according to paxdiablo . What I did to find the error was by commenting line by line upward the code until the Syntax Error disappeared temporary. The last line that I gave comment mark was the one who cause error.
– Santosa Sandy
                Mar 28, 2017 at 8:00
I noticed that invalid syntax error for no apparent reason can be caused by using space in:
print(f'{something something}')
Python IDLE seems to jump and highlight a part of the first line for some reason (even if the first line happens to be a comment), which is misleading.
                Does Python's error show the wrong line, or is this only an IDLE thing? Either way, this is a different issue than the one OP's experiencing, if you read their code.
– wjandrea
                Mar 3 at 5:14