C# Keywords

Keywords are predefined, reserved identifiers that have special meanings to the compiler. They cannot be used as identifiers in your program unless they include @ as a prefix. For example, @if is a valid identifier but if is not because if is a keyword.

The first table in this topic lists keywords that are reserved identifiers in any part of a C# program. The second table in this topic lists the contextual keywords in C#. Contextual keywords have special meaning only in a limited program context and can be used as identifiers outside that context. Generally, as new keywords are added to the C# language, they are added as contextual keywords in order to avoid breaking programs written in earlier versions.

abstract	event	new	struct
as	explicit	null	switch
base	extern	object	this
bool	false	operator	throw
break	finally	out	true
byte	fixed	override	try
case	float	params	typeof
catch	for	private	uint
char	foreach	protected	ulong
checked	goto	public	unchecked
class	if	readonly	unsafe
const	implicit	ref	ushort
continue	in	return	using
decimal	int	sbyte	virtual
default	interface	sealed	volatile
delegate	internal	short	void
do	is	sizeof	while
double	lock	stackalloc
else	long	static
enum	namespace	string

Contextual Keywords

A contextual keyword is used to provide a specific meaning in the code, but it is not a reserved word in C#. Some contextual keywords, such as partial and where, have special meanings in two or more contexts.

add	from	get
global	group	into
join	let	orderby
partial (type)	partial (method)	remove
select	set	value
var	where (generic type constraint)	where (query clause)
yield

See Also

Concepts

C# Programming Guide

Other Resources

C# Reference

Change History

Date	History	Reason
July 2009	Added add, remove, and global to the contextual keywords.	Information enhancement.