# Hypertext Help with LaTeX
LaTex Commands

Commands take one of two forms:

- a backslash (`\`) followed by a single special character
- a backslash (`\`) followed by a string of letters

The second case is case-sensitive; `\Gamma` is different from `\gamma`. These commands are terminated by a nonletter, i.e., a blank, a number, a punctuation mark or special character.

For commands which produce text a trailing blank is interpreted as the end of the command, which does not automatically create a space, so you may have to do something to create an interword space after this text.

Commands may have mandatory arguments, which are input in braces (`{}`). They may also have optional arguments, which are input in square brackets (`[]`).

## Defining new commands, etc.

See:

- `\newcommand`
- `\newenvironment`
- `\newtheorem`
- `\newfont`

These must be used for entities which are not already defined. To redefine something use, for example, `\renewcommand`.

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