{"id":67132,"date":"2022-10-27T08:48:09","date_gmt":"2022-10-27T08:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"\/tutorials\/?p=67132"},"modified":"2025-12-22T12:43:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T12:43:18","slug":"bash-concatenate-strings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/tutorials\/bash-concatenate-strings","title":{"rendered":"How to concatenate strings in bash: A guide for connecting string variables"},"content":{"rendered":"

The majority of programming languages can connect two or more strings. One programming language that makes it effortless to concatenate variables is bash<\/strong>.<\/p>

What makes bash special is that string variables can be connected without the use of dedicated commands or functions. In other words, to combine string data, users can use simple variable manipulation or apply the same logic with the addition assignment operator (+=)<\/strong>.<\/p>

In this tutorial, we will explain bash scripting, go over what bash concatenate strings are, and provide a variety of ways to concatenate strings.<\/p>

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What Is Bash Scripting?<\/h2>

Bash shell scripting allows users to execute hundreds of Linux commands<\/a> with a single script instead of writing them all down one by one. It is extra helpful for users looking to automate operations on their physical server or VPS hosting<\/a> environment, enhancing productivity.<\/p>

For example, any command a user can run natively on a terminal can be put into a bash script. This also applies to functions, so instead of writing them down every time, users only need to write a function once and reuse it in any bash scripts.<\/p>

Any script starts with a .sh<\/strong> file<\/a> and contains a similar structure:<\/p>

#!\/bin\/bash\n# Creates a new variable \"Hello, World\"\nmybashvariable=\"Hello, World\"\necho $mybashvariable<\/pre>
The first line tells the terminal to run the script using bash exclusively, and all the following lines are the actual script itself.<\/p>
In this particular example, the script created a new variable named mybashvariable<\/strong> and gave it a “Hello, World<\/strong>” value, and the script will print the value out.<\/p>
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\"Bash<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
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What Is Concatenation in Linux?<\/h2>\n                    
 Concatenation operation in bash is the process of attaching a string to the end of another string. Bash allows its users to concatenate strings by writing strings one after the other or joining them using the += operator. <\/p>\n                <\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>
String Concatenation – Adding One String Variable After the Other<\/h2>
The simplest string concatenation method is adding one string variable after the other. The following sections will show three different ways to do just that.<\/p>
String Concatenation Using Literal Strings<\/h3>
Literal strings are printed literally, and there are two ways to print out a string literal – using singular quotes or a backlash symbol with regular double quotes. For example, we will create a new literal string variable without quotes and echo it:<\/p>
#!\/bin\/bash\nvariablename=\\usr\\bin\\env\necho \"$variablename\"<\/pre>
In this case, the result would be:<\/p>
# Result\nusrbinenv<\/pre>
Now, when we add singular<\/strong> or double quotes<\/strong> to the string variable name, the echo command will print the value literally:<\/p>
#!\/bin\/bash\nvariablename='\\usr\\bin\\env'\necho \"$variablename\"<\/pre>
Here’s the result:<\/p>
# Result\n\\usr\\bin\\env<\/pre>
Next, we will apply this logic to concatenate two strings:<\/p>
#!\/bin\/bash\nvariablename='\\usr\\bin\\env'\necho \"$variablename Bash_Is_Awesome\"<\/pre>
We can also cover the last line’s variable using rounded brackets<\/strong> in order to guard it. Curly brackets are helpful if you got a variety of variables:<\/p>
echo \"${variablename} Bash_Is_Awesome\"<\/pre>
In both cases, the result will be shown as:<\/p>
\\usr\\bin\\env Bash_Is_Awesome<\/pre>
String Concatenation of Multiple Variables<\/h3>
Multiple string variables can be easily joined together with clear-cut variable manipulation.<\/p>
For example, in the following bash script, we will use three different variables to create combined values. The echo command will subsequently print out the string data:<\/p>
#!\/bin\/bash\nvariablename='\\usr\\bin\\env '\nmyvariable='_Awesome'\nanothervariable=\"$variablename\"Bash_Is\"$myvariable\"\necho \"$anothervariable\"<\/pre>
Here’s what the result will look like:<\/p>
\\usr\\bin\\env Bash_Is_Awesome<\/pre>
String Concatenation of Numbers and Strings<\/h3>
Bash allows its users to concatenate one or more variables that are not string-type. For this reason, it is possible to concatenate multiple variables, which can be strings or numbers:<\/p>
#!\/bin\/bash\nfirstvariable=\" Hello, World \"\nsecondvariable=\"Hello, Hostinger \"\nthirdvariable=\" I now know how to concatenate strings in bash.\"\nfourthvariable=\"$secondvariable\"and\"$firstvariable\"means\"$thirdvariable\"\necho $fourthvariable<\/pre>
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\"Bash<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
String Concatenation Using the += Operator<\/h2>
Another way to join two or more strings to make a concatenated string is to use the addition assignment operator (+=). This operator makes it possible to connect strings using one or more variables.<\/p>
For example, the following script can be used to join two strings with the use of a single variable:<\/p>
#!\/bin\/bash\nmystring=\"I would like to generate a meaningful output, please. \"\nmystring+=\"Not a chance, friend!\"\necho \"$mystring\"<\/pre>
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\"Connecting<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
A similar result can be achieved using two variables:<\/p>
#!\/bin\/bash\nfirststring=\"This is a single string. \"\nsecondstring=\"Which makes this a resulting string.\"\n# Curly brackets between $secondvariable are called variable interpolation.\nfirststring+=\"${secondstring}\"\necho $firststring<\/pre>
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\"Bash<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
Concatenating Numeric Strings<\/h3>
The append operator method can also be used exclusively to append numeric string variables.<\/p>
#!\/bin\/bash\nnumeric_string=2050\nnumeric_string+=0502\necho $numeric_string<\/pre>
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\"Bash<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
However, if you would like to add the numbers together, this logic needs to be used:<\/p>
#!\/bin\/bash\nx=3\ny=5\nz=6\n((x+=y+=z))\necho $x<\/pre>
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\"Bash<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
Concatenating Strings Using Bash for Loop<\/h3>
A more advanced way of using the bash concatenate functionality is implementing it into the bash for loop<\/a>.<\/p>
In the following example, we got a myvariable<\/strong> with three strings and a variable named results<\/strong> with an empty string. With the help of the bash for<\/strong> loop<\/strong>, we will be able to combine strings from myvariable<\/strong> with our string:<\/p>
#!\/bin\/bash\nmyvariable=\"bash concatenation Hostinger\"\nresults=\"\"\nfor i in $myvariable\ndo\nresults+=\"The answer is $i... \"\ndone\necho $results<\/pre>
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\"Bash<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
Conclusion<\/h2>
The bash programming language is a convenient and efficient tool for various variable manipulation actions. One of the most important examples is the ability to join different string variables into one.<\/p>
In this tutorial, we’ve gone through the definition of bash scripting and concatenation. We also learned how to join string variables with two different methods.<\/p>
We hope you found this tutorial useful. If you have any further questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The majority of programming languages can connect two or more strings. One programming language that makes it effortless to concatenate […]<\/p>\n
Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_title":"How to Bash Concatenate Strings: Joining Variables in Linux","rank_math_description":"How to bash concatenate strings? A guide on concatenation also known as connecting variables is an action commonly used in string operations.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"bash concatenate strings","footnotes":""},"categories":[22648,22644],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-managing-monitoring-and-security","category-vps"],"hreflangs":[{"locale":"en-US","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/bash-concatenate-strings","default":0},{"locale":"pt-BR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/br\/tutoriais\/como-concatenar-strings-no-bash","default":0},{"locale":"fr-FR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/fr\/tutoriels\/concatener-des-chaines-en-bash","default":0},{"locale":"es-ES","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/es\/tutoriales\/como-concatenar-cadenas-en-bash","default":0},{"locale":"id-ID","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/id\/tutorial\/cara-menggabungkan-string-di-bash","default":0},{"locale":"en-UK","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/uk\/tutorials\/bash-concatenate-strings","default":0},{"locale":"en-MY","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/my\/tutorials\/bash-concatenate-strings","default":0},{"locale":"en-PH","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ph\/tutorials\/bash-concatenate-strings","default":0},{"locale":"es-MX","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/mx\/tutoriales\/como-concatenar-cadenas-en-bash","default":0},{"locale":"es-CO","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/co\/tutoriales\/como-concatenar-cadenas-en-bash","default":0},{"locale":"es-AR","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ar\/tutoriales\/como-concatenar-cadenas-en-bash","default":0},{"locale":"en-IN","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/in\/tutorials\/bash-concatenate-strings","default":0},{"locale":"en-CA","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ca\/tutorials\/bash-concatenate-strings","default":0},{"locale":"pt-PT","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/pt\/tutoriais\/como-concatenar-strings-no-bash","default":0},{"locale":"en-AU","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/au\/tutorials\/bash-concatenate-strings","default":0},{"locale":"en-NG","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/ng\/tutorials\/bash-concatenate-strings","default":0}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67132"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":138093,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67132\/revisions\/138093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/tutorials\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}