take :: Int -> [a] -> [a]

take n, applied to a list xs, returns the prefix of xs of length n, or xs itself if n > length xs:

 take 5 "Hello World!" == "Hello"
 take 3 [1,2,3,4,5] == [1,2,3]
 take 3 [1,2] == [1,2]
 take 3 [] == []
 take (-1) [1,2] == []
 take 0 [1,2] == []

It is an instance of the more general genericTake, in which n may be of any integral type.

drop :: Int -> [a] -> [a]

drop n xs returns the suffix of xs after the first n elements, or [] if n > length xs:

 drop 6 "Hello World!" == "World!"
 drop 3 [1,2,3,4,5] == [4,5]
 drop 3 [1,2] == []
 drop 3 [] == []
 drop (-1) [1,2] == [1,2]
 drop 0 [1,2] == [1,2]

It is an instance of the more general genericDrop, in which n may be of any integral type.

splitAt :: Int -> [a] -> ([a], [a])

splitAt n xs returns a tuple where first element is xs prefix of length n and second element is the remainder of the list:

 splitAt 6 "Hello World!" == ("Hello ","World!")
 splitAt 3 [1,2,3,4,5] == ([1,2,3],[4,5])
 splitAt 1 [1,2,3] == ([1],[2,3])
 splitAt 3 [1,2,3] == ([1,2,3],[])
 splitAt 4 [1,2,3] == ([1,2,3],[])
 splitAt 0 [1,2,3] == ([],[1,2,3])
 splitAt (-1) [1,2,3] == ([],[1,2,3])

It is equivalent to (take n xs, drop n xs). splitAt is an instance of the more general genericSplitAt, in which n may be of any integral type.

takeWhile :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> [a]

takeWhile, applied to a predicate p and a list xs, returns the longest prefix (possibly empty) of xs of elements that satisfy p:

 takeWhile (< 3) [1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4] == [1,2]
 takeWhile (< 9) [1,2,3] == [1,2,3]
 takeWhile (< 0) [1,2,3] == []

dropWhile :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> [a]

dropWhile p xs returns the suffix remaining after takeWhile p xs:

 dropWhile (< 3) [1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3] == [3,4,5,1,2,3]
 dropWhile (< 9) [1,2,3] == []
 dropWhile (< 0) [1,2,3] == [1,2,3]

span :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> ([a], [a])

span, applied to a predicate p and a list xs, returns a tuple where first element is longest prefix (possibly empty) of xs of elements that satisfy p and second element is the remainder of the list:

 span (< 3) [1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4] == ([1,2],[3,4,1,2,3,4])
 span (< 10) [1,2,3] == ([1,2,3],[])
 span (== 10) [1,2,3] == ([],[1,2,3])

span p xs is equivalent to (takeWhile p xs, dropWhile p xs)

break :: (a -> Bool) -> [a] -> ([a], [a])

break, applied to a predicate p and a list xs, returns a tuple where first element is longest prefix (possibly empty) of xs of elements that do not satisfy p and second element is the remainder of the list:

 break (> 3) [1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4] == ([1,2,3],[4,1,2,3,4])
 break (< 9) [1,2,3] == ([],[1,2,3])
 break (> 9) [1,2,3] == ([1,2,3],[])

break p is equivalent to span (not . p).