Scalable Parentheses and Brackets in LaTeX Equations — Use \left and \right before parentheses commands
Nov. 12, 2025 in Buffalo, United States • Updated Nov. 15, 2025
In LaTeX, by adding \left and \right before the parentheses (or brackets, curly brackets, angle brackets, pipes, and double pipes etc.), we can make their size dynamically adjusted along with the inner content1. For example:
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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
\begin{equation*}
(
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
),\,
\big(
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\big),\,
\left(
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\right)
\end{equation*}
\begin{equation*}
\{
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\},\,
\big\{
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\big\},\,
\left\{
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\right\}
\end{equation*}
\begin{equation*}
[
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
],\,
\big[
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\big],\,
\left[
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\right]
\end{equation*}
\begin{equation*}
\langle
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\rangle,\,
\big\langle
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\big\rangle,\,
\left\langle
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\right\rangle
\end{equation*}
\begin{equation*}
|
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
|,\,
\big|
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\big|,\,
\left|
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\right|
\end{equation*}
\begin{equation*}
\|
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\|,\,
\big\|
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\big\|,\,
\left\|
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
\right\|
\end{equation*}
\end{document}
By the way, note that this method can’t automatically adjust the parentheses that after another parentheses bigger. For example,
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\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
\begin{equation*}
\left(\left(\left(
a^2
\right)+b^2\right)+c^2\right)
\end{equation*}
\begin{equation*}
\left\{\left\{\left\{
a^2
\right\}+b^2\right\}+c^2\right\}
\end{equation*}
\begin{equation*}
\left[\left[\left[
a^2
\right]+b^2\right]+c^2\right]
\end{equation*}
\end{document}
This is because the outer parentheses detect the same height (of the content) as the inner one. So, to make the outer one more bigger, we also need to use commands like \bigl(, \Bigl(, \biggl(, \Biggl( etc., to adjust it manually.
References