How to fix TypeError: 'dict' object is not callable

When you’re working with dictionaries in Python, you might see the following error:

TypeError: 'dict' object is not callable

This error usually occurs when you use round brackets () to access a dictionary value. You need to use square brackets [] when accessing a value from a dictionary.

Let’s see an example that causes this error and how to fix it

Why this error occurs

Suppose you created a dictionary object in your code as follows:

dic = {1: "Nathan", 2: "Jane", 3: "John"}

Then, you proceed to access the value at key 1, so you write the code below:

dic(1)

But the round brackets () are used to call a function in Python.

Since a dictionary isn’t a function, you get this error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "main.py", line 2, in <module>
    dic(1)
TypeError: 'dict' object is not callable

The ‘dict’ object in the message refers to the dic variable that we’ve created.

By adding parentheses, Python thinks you’re trying to call a function, but a dictionary is not a function!

How to fix this error

To fix this error, you need to access a dictionary value by using square brackets.

Here’s the right syntax:

dic = {1: "Nathan", 2: "Jane", 3: "John"}

dic[1]  # Nathan

If you use strings as the keys to the dictionary, then you can pass the key in the square brackets like this:

dic = {"person_1": "Nathan", "person_2": "Jane", "person_3": "John"}

print(dic["person_1"])  # Nathan
print(dic["person_2"])  # Jane

By appropriately using the square brackets, you can access the values contained in the dictionary object and avoid the error.

I hope this tutorial is helpful. See you in other articles! 🙌