> str[0], but how would test to see if it's a non-letter? import string if str[0] not in string.letters: # do whatever OR if str[0] in string.numbers: # do it the first tests any non letter(punctuation etc)the second is specifically for numbers. try dir(string) to see the other predefined collections. HTH Alan g. Author of the 'Learning to Program' web site http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld