use Data::Dumper; @array = (1,2,3); @brray = (4,5,6); print Dumper [ \(@array,@brray) ]; print Dumper [ \((@array),@brray) ]; __END__ $VAR1 = [ [ 1, 2, 3 ], [ 4, 5, 6 ] ]; $VAR1 = [ \1, \2, \3, [ 4, 5, 6 ] ];