use strict; use warnings; my @array = ("w", "h", [1, 2, "c"]); print $array[0],$/; # w print $array[1],$/; # h print $array[2],$/; # ARRAY(0x177f07c) You've found the array reference! print ${$array[2]}[0],$/; # 1 print ${$array[2]}[1],$/; # 2 print ${$array[2]}[2],$/; # c