Brackets in LaTeX
Plain parentheses do not grow with a fraction inside them. Put \left and \right in front of them and LaTeX sizes them automatically. Curly braces need a backslash, because bare braces group code.
Automatic height
\left( \frac{a}{b} \right)^2Curly braces
A = \{ 1, 2, 3 \}Absolute value and norm
|x|, \quad \|\vec{v}\|Manual size
\bigl( x + y \bigr)Common mistakes
- \left without a matching \right: compilation fails. When you need only one side, use \right. as the invisible partner.
- Braces without a backslash: {1, 2} does not show up at all.
See also
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