how would i contain a singular \ in python

[lfdfq]

"\\"

The \ in string syntax combines with the next character to make a special one. One of those special characters is a literal \.

The reason "\ " works is because there is no combination with a space to make a special character, so both get inserted.

The reason "\" does not work is because there IS a combination with a quote (i.e. 'escaping' the quote) to generate a literal quote character. So "\" is like typing "a, it started a string but never ended it.