%aminoacids = ( 1 => 'Tyrosine', 2 => 'Glycine', 3 => 'Leucine', ); for $i (1..3) { for $j (1..3) { for $k (1..3) { # another test print command #print "$i $j $k\n"; # want to print out for example tyrosine tyrosine leucine if $i = 1, $j = 1 and $k = 3 local $"=' ' ; print "@aminoacids{$i,$j,$k}\n" ; } } }