Anatomy of a Function
As shown in Figure 2 , each function has two main parts.
The function namedetermines what the function does.
The arguments determine what values or cell references the function should use in its calculation. Arguments are enclosed in parentheses and, if there's more than one, separated by commas.
Figure 2. The parts of a function. Bold components are required.
Tips
If a function comes at the beginning of a formula, it must begin with an equal sign (=).
Some arguments are optional. In the SUM function, for example, you can have only one argument, like a reference to a single range of cells.
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