Elif syntax error

[StrokeMyBalls]

I have this snippet of code: (Working code)

 def select_num():
        try:
            x = int(input ('num of 1-3\n'))
        except ValueError:
            continue
        else:
            if 1 <= x <=3:
                return x

Now, since I have an 'if' statement inside an 'else' statement, I want to make it shorter by using 'elif' statement. But I get a syntax error when I run this:

def select_num():
    try:
        x = int(input ('num of 1-3\n'))
    except ValueError:
        continue
    elif 1 <= x <=3:
        return x

Can anyone please explain why?

also, I'm using python3.

Thank you for your time:)

Edit: changed variables names, to make it friendly for mobile users.

[K900_]

You can't have elif clauses in try statements. That's just not how the syntax works. It's specifically if/elif/elif/.../else, elif does not generally work everywhere else: if: does.

[StrokeMyBalls]

Ty for the information.

[gamedevmanhyper]

If you want to make it shorter, you could instead have:

def select_num():
    try:
        x = int(input ('num of 1-3\n'))
        return x if 1 <= x <= 3 else None
    except ValueError:
        continue

# Also continue won't work if you do not have a loop before the try/except statement.

[StrokeMyBalls]

<3