>>> filename = ['file1','file2','file3'] >>> fileprefix = 'TRE_' >>> for item in filename: print('%s%s'%(fileprefix,item)) ... TRE_file1 TRE_file2 TRE_file3 or with list comp >>> combined = [('%s%s'%(fileprefix,item)) for item in filename] >>> combined ['TRE_file1', 'TRE_file2', 'TRE_file3'] >>>