for if else in one line
>>> plate = '3k4j3m' >>> nmplt=[] >>> letplt=[] >>> [letplt.append(let) if(i%2!=0) else nmplt.append(let) for i,let in enumerate(plate)] [None, None, None, None, None, None] >>> nmplt ['3', '4', '3'] >>> letplt ['k', 'j', 'm'] >>> ''.join(nmplt) '343' >>> ''.join(letplt) 'kjm' Using only if >>> [let for i,let in enumerate(plate) if i%2!=0] ['k', 'j', 'm']