Fix syntax error near unexpected token in Bash

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Fix syntax error near unexpected token in Bash

Author：JIYIK Last Updated：2025/03/20 Views：

Writing code using Bash scripts, escape sequences, or quotes may result in errors. This article will explain how to fix errors in Linux Bash bash: syntax error near unexpected token.

syntax error near unexpected tokenThere are many reasons for code-related errors in Bash scripts . We will explain the most common errors and how to solve them.

Fix syntax and formatting strings to resolve `bash: syntax error near unexpected token`errors

If you receive this error, it is most likely a syntax error. First, catread the contents of the file using the command.

cat file.sh

Note the use of single and double quote characters.

If you use escape characters, you must use double quotes. Single quotes do not allow these characters.

For example, the following code will throw an error near unexpected token syntax error near unexpected token '('.

#!/bin/bash
str='You \'(cannot)\' do this'

However, if you write the same code using double quotes, you can use escape characters. The following code will work fine.

#!/bin/bash
str="You "(can)" do this"

In addition, another method is to add at the beginning of the string $. In this way, $'string'the string of the form will be treated specially.

Backslash escape sequences are decoded as specified by the ANSI C standard.

#!/bin/bash
str=$'You \'(can)\' do this'

Troubleshooting Bash errors using `dos2unix`command`bash: syntax error near unexpected token`

Unix operating systems use line feed characters ( "\n") as line endings, but Windows operating systems use carriage return and line feed characters ( "\r\n"). Therefore, if you try to execute code written in Windows using Cygwin, you may receive this error.

You must remove the carriage return characters to execute the file.

dos2unixThe command line tool is a DOS to Unix text file format converter and vice versa. You can use this tool to make your files compatible with Unix.

Its usage is as follows.

dos2unix file.sh

The file will be converted to Unix format. You can now execute the file.

./file.sh

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