string2 = "Odd or even" # find index of "even" try: print '"even" index is', string2.index( "even" ) except ValueError: print '"even" does not occur in "%s"' % string2 if string2.startswith( "Odd" ): print '"%s" starts with "Odd"' % string2 if string2.endswith( "even" ): print '"%s" ends with "even"\n' % string2