freeCodeCamp/guide/english/python/sleep-how-can-i-make-a-time-delay-in-python/index.md

title
Sleep How Can I Make a Time Delay in Python

Sleep How Can I Make a Time Delay in Python

The time module in the Python standard library contains the function sleep() which suspends a program for a given number of seconds.

Example:

import time

for letter in 'hello, world!':
    print(letter)
    time.sleep(2)  # sleep 2 seconds between each print

When using sleep, you can define the amount of time that the program is suspended using either an integer (a whole number) or a float (a number with decimal places), depending on the level of control you want over the time that the program sleeps. For example, time.sleep(10) would suspend a program for 10 seconds, while time.sleep(5.5) would suspend a program for five and a half seconds.

More Information

Time module documentation on the sleep function.